  {"id":224229,"date":"2025-10-24T09:04:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T19:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=224229"},"modified":"2025-10-24T09:04:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T19:04:11","slug":"future-pharmacists-can-earn-online-degree-with-uh-hilo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/24\/future-pharmacists-can-earn-online-degree-with-uh-hilo\/","title":{"rendered":"Future pharmacists can earn online degree with <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><figure id=\"attachment_224221\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-224221\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-1.jpg\" alt=\"Pharmacy student holding a pill bottle\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-224221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-1.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-1-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-224221\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new program lets students complete all clinical rotations in <span lang=\"haw\">Âé¶¹´«Ã½<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>October is American Pharmacists Month and the University of <span lang=\"haw\">Âé¶¹´«Ã½<\/span> at Hilo\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/pharmacy.uhh.hawaii.edu\/\">Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy<\/a> (<abbr>DKICP<\/abbr>) is helping shine a light on the vital role pharmacists play in public health. The pharmacy school is now accepting applications for a new online degree program called PharmD-<abbr>XO<\/abbr>, designed for aspiring pharmacists who need flexibility.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_224222\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-224222\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-3-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Group of smiling students\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-224222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-3-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-3.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-224222\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><abbr>DKICP<\/abbr> continues its mission to expand healthcare access through quality pharmacy education<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The first cohort starts in January 2026. It is a track towards earning a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. The program is built for working adults and off- island and out-of-state residents. Students can stay in their jobs and communities while earning the degree.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As we address the physician shortage affecting rural communities nationwide, pharmacists trained to practice at the full scope of their license can provide vital healthcare services where they\u2019re needed most,&rdquo; said Rae Matsumoto, dean at <abbr>DKICP<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n<h2>Pharmacists fill critical healthcare gaps<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_224220\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-224220\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-2-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Pharmacy student working with meds\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-224220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-2-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-2.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-224220\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Research is focused on advancing health equity in rural and underserved communities<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The need is clear. National data show physician shortages are intensifying with 20% of Americans living in rural areas and only 10% of physicians practicing there. Nearly 90% of Americans live within 5 miles of a pharmacy, making pharmacists the most accessible healthcare providers.<\/p>\n<p>The college recently earned an eight-year accreditation renewal from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. Building on that momentum, the PharmD-<abbr>XO<\/abbr> program spans 5.5 years. Most learning happens online. Students come to Hilo once a year for a two- to four-week immersion during the first 4.5 years. Those visits focus on labs, team skills, and hands-on training. The final year is all clinical experience at pharmacy practice sites.<\/p>\n<p>Learn more on the college\u2019s website, email <a href=\"mailto:pharmacy@hawaii.edu\">pharmacy@hawaii.edu<\/a>, or call (808) 932-7704.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new <abbr>DKICP<\/abbr> online program is built for working adults and off- island and out-of-state residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":224221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[52,50,14],"class_list":["post-224229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-college-of-pharmacy","tag-pharmacy","tag-uh-hilo","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hilo-pharmacy-2025-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224229"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224236,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224229\/revisions\/224236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}