Psychopharmacotherapy Certificate

Bridging the Gap

With an increasing need for mental healthcare, many healthcare professionals are assisting with the treatment of mental health disorders.  An important component of treating mental health disorders is pharmacotherapy but many of the medications are complex and require judicious management. This program addresses a major gap in the delivery of mental healthcare by providing concentrated training on pharmacotherapy medications.

Educational Objectives

Patient Care:

1. Assess patients regarding the risks and benefits of pharmacotherapeutic, psychotherapeutic, non-pharmacologic treatments or combined treatment of mental health disorders and any medical comorbidities.
2. Include individual patient factors in the decision-making process for determining appropriate pharmacotherapy in individuals with mental health disorders.

Medical and Science Foundations:

1. Utilize pharmacologic, physiologic, anatomical, and pharmaceutical understanding in the selection of pharmacotherapy for patients.
2. Demonstrate the ability to understand scientific and regulatory information, applying evidence-based scientific data in therapeutic decision-making.

Curriculum

The program consists of 9 credit hours of course work in psychopharmacotherapy and 3 credit hours of elective course work.

Psychopharmacotherapy I-III (9 credits)

The 3-course series will cover the pharmacotherapy of psychiatric disorders with an emphasis on clinical decision-making and development of patient-centered, evidence-based, pharmacotherapeutic plans.

Electives (3 credits)

Students will take at least one elective from the following list:

• HSCI 260 Survey of Evidence-based Healthcare
• HSCI 201 Introduction to Health Informatics and Analytics
• MSCP 205 Fundamentals of Neuroscience
• Other graduate level courses as approved by the Associate Dean

The curriculum will be delivered primarily online. Attendance in online didactic courses will be determined by individual instructors. 

Admission

To apply for the certificate program, click here.

Questions about the program should be directed to ryan.ernst@drake.edu.