Honors students in the College of Pharmacy will use one of the departmental independent study courses to complete the SCHC thesis requirement. This course will be taken instead of SCHC 499. Please note that pharmacy students are not required to take SCHC 390, the thesis preparation course.

This page outlines the typical pathway and requirements for Honors students pursuing a Pharm.D.

P2 Year

• Select a topic and find a full-time USC faculty member who can serve as an independent study director. Typically, students choose a professor in the College of Pharmacy. The professor can also be associated with the USC School of Medicine (including Greenville).

P3 Year

• Complete the Undergraduate Independent Study Contract for enrollment in PHMY 716 or PHMY 757 and submit this to the Honors College via the Senior Thesis Director contracts submission link.
• Develop and submit a proposal for your independent student project in the fall of the P3 year. The proposal will be two to three pages and should include the following sections:
  • An abstract
  • Statement of the research problem or questions
  • Method
  • Timeline
• Complete a minimum of three credits of PHMY 716 or PHMY 757. All three credits can be taken in a single semester or spread over multiple semesters. PHMY 716/757 must be letter-graded, and students must earn a minimum of a C to have the course count toward fulfillment of the thesis requirement.
• By the spring of the P3 Year, complete the independent study, defend the thesis project and submit the final project paper to SCHC by the deadlines on the thesis webpage and course equivalent Blackboard group. Required components of the thesis:
  • Signed thesis title page
  • Summary or abstract
  • Table of contents
  • Thesis paper
• Students should undertake the thesis project with an eye toward creating a manuscript that could be submitted for publication. As such, the final thesis paper should be consistent in length and format with a journal manuscript in the field.