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University of Colorado Denver

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Nontraditional PharmD Program

Credit by Challenge


In the Nontraditional PharmD (NTPD) program, practice competency is determined by the mastery of performance outcomes. Many nontraditional students have already achieved the outcomes for one or more rotations during their pharmacy careers. Therefore, the NTPD Credit-by-Challenge Subcommittee developed a challenge portfolio process to grant academic credit for one or more advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) based on the student’s work experience.

Students may submit a challenge portfolio through the full or abbreviated portfolio challenge format, detailed on the tabs below.

Students should also review the credit-by-challenge documents to learn more about the credit-by-challenge deadlines, guidelines and review process.

Experiential Planning Call:  Students may begin planning for their challenge portfolio submission upon program admission by completing an experiential planning call.  Students may schedule this by contacting the NTPD office.

All credit-by-challenge submissions must be prereviewed by the NTPD office before the submissions are sent through the formal review process to receive a final grade. Students will e-mail their challenge submissions to the NTPD office to have their challenge prereviewed. The NTPD office will inform students if any formatting revisions are needed. If no revisions are needed, students will be instructed to mail three hardbound copies of their challenge to the NTPD office at the address listed below.

Mailing Address

Nontraditional PharmD Program
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Building
12850 E. Montview Blvd., Room V20-1116
Aurora, CO 80045
Mail Stop (C238-V20)

After the NTPD office receives the three hardbound copies of the student’s challenge, the office will submit the challenge to two independent reviewers, who are clinical practitioners in the rotation category being challenged.  Each reviewer will assess the challenge by using the outcomes the student would be graded on if the student completed a 200-hour rotation.

The reviewers will each provide a challenge grade recommendation. The NTPD office will submit both reviewers’ grade recommendations to the NTPD credit-by-challenge subcommittee, who will determine the final grade that will appear on the student’s academic transcript. Students may receive full credit, half credit or no credit for their challenge submissions. Finally, students will receive an official letter from the NTPD office notifying them of their final challenge grades.

It may take as long as six months for a student’s challenge to go through the formal review process and to receive a final grade. Therefore, students should complete their rotation and challenge planning calls soon after admission into the NTPD program, so they can plan accordingly when preparing their challenge submissions.

Students should review the credit-by-challenge documents found in the Resources section to learn more about the credit-by-challenge deadlines, guidelines and review process.

The abbreviated portfolio challenge format is an alternative to preparing a full portfolio challenge, and is available to students with specific credentials as listed below. A student is eligible to submit an abbreviated portfolio challenge if the student’s professional accomplishments require a degree of competency that is recognized by the NTPD credit-by-challenge subcommittee as exceeding the outcomes required by PharmD candidates performing a traditional 200-hour rotation under the guidance of an experienced preceptor.

Abbreviated portfolio challenge qualifications:

  • Serving as a preceptor for:
    • Pharmacy students in their final year of pharmacy school and completing formal APPE rotations, or
    • Pharmacy residents or
    • Pharmacy fellows
  • Passing a board certification exam, such as BCPS, BCOP or others as appropriate.
  • Holding a healthcare management position for at least six months.
  • Earning a second graduate degree, such as:
    • MBA  or
    • PhD research-related degree

The preparation of the abbreviated portfolio challenge requires:

  • Completing the abbreviated challenge worksheet.
  • Outlining the basis of the challenge in any of the qualifying categories.
  • Providing the supportive documentation specified within the worksheet for each category.

Student should also review the full portfolio challenge submission tab above to learn more about that challenge format.

A full portfolio challenge submission requires the student to prepare a portfolio addressing the outcomes the student would be graded on if the student completed a full 200-hour rotation. The student addresses the outcomes by writing a half-page to full-page narrative per outcome, describing how their current clinical work experience best supports each outcome. Then, the student includes one piece of supportive documentation per outcome. The supportive documentation is the physical evidence supporting the student’s work experience as written in the student’s narrative description.

The NTPD program can provide brief excerpts from successful challenges for students preparing full portfolio challenges.

Also, a student preparing a full portfolio challenge submission has the opportunity to work with an advisor. The advisor is a graduate from the NTPD program, who successfully completed a full portfolio challenge and practices in the area the student is challenging.

Student should also review the abbreviated portfolio challenge submission tab above to learn more about this challenge format.