Minimum course requirements for the graduate programs are noted in the academic calendar. Students should refer to their respective academic calendar for details.
General information about courses for Pharmacy graduate students
Required courses for Pharmacy MSc & PhD students
The core required course for MSc and PhD students in Pharmacy, PHARM 610, is typically offered in the winter term and should be taken by students within the first year of their program.
The required thesis proposal courses (PHARM 601, PHARM 616 A/B) are offered each term. Students should sign up in the proper term as noted in the academic calendar (term two for MSc students; term three* for PhD students).
*Students who transfer from MSc to PhD will complete PHARM 616B after the transfer is approved. More information can be found on the Thesis Proposal page of the MSc and PhD student handbook.
Elective courses
In addition to any elective courses offered in Pharmacy, students may take courses in other departments toward their degree requirements.
- All students may take courses in other departments; refer to graduate course information and schedules for details.
- MSc and PhD students are encouraged to discuss suitable elective course options with their supervisor and advisory committee members.
Taking additional courses
Normally, courses are taken 'for credit' and are counted toward degree requirements and included in the calculation of the student’s cumulative grade point average (CGPA)
Sometimes students wish to take more courses than required and do not want to have the extra courses counted toward their degree. In such cases, a student may choose to “audit” a course, or take a course as “extra” to their degree.
Auditing a course
When a student audits a course, the course appears on their transcript and if all course requirements as required by the instructor are successfully completed by the student, 'AUD' is noted on the transcript.
Taking a course as "extra" to the degree
When a student takes a course as extra to their degree, the course will appear on the transcript and the grade will be noted but not counted in their CGPA, nor toward the degree. Should the student decide to pursue an additional degree at Waterloo or elsewhere, the 'extra course' will be eligible for transfer toward fulfillment of the additional degree.
It is the student's responsibility to ensure their student record is up to date, and to follow up with the course instructor, department, or institution, if any grade is missing from their record.
Enrolling in courses
All students must enrol in courses via the Quest portal, during the designated enrolment period . See How do I add classes, for instructions.
Students can only take 1 ‘Special Topics’ course for credit toward their graduate degree program requirements.
Taking courses in other departments
Students interested in courses in other departments should refer to the course description to determine if instructor or department consent is required to enrol; then, if required, contact the course instructor or the department coordinator for a permission number to add the course in Quest. Refer to the list of Department/program Graduate Co-ordinators, Graduate Studies to find the appropriate department contact.
Sample of elective courses in other departments
| BIOL 614 | Applied Bioinformatics & Genomics |
| BIOL 690 | Scientific Communication |
| CHE 640 | Principles of Polymer Science |
| CHE 660 | Biochemical Engineering |
| CHE 765 | Research Topics in Biochemical Engineering |
| CHEM 731 | Selected Biochemistry Topics |
| CHEM 784 | Literature Review |
| HLTH 603 | Health Systems and Policy |
| HLTH 605A | Regression Models |
| HLTH 605B | Quant. Methods & Analysis |
| HLTH 606A | Epidemiological Methods |
| HLTH 617 | Population Intervention for Disease Prevention and Health |
| HLTH 625 | Foundations of Qualitative Research Methodologies |
| HLTH 627 | Dementia Care |
| HLTH 652 | Qualitative Methods & Analysis |
| HLTH 656 | Quantitative Methods & Analysis for Program |
| HLTH 671 | Psychopharmacology |
| NANO 600 | Introduction to Nanotechnology |