Public service is of particular importance to those entering our one year masters program, because providing a track record of significant public or community service has become a prerequisite for admission to most US medical schools. Students are expected to move beyond the scope of academics and work in a community to improve the health of a population. This is "what medicine is all about".

As a result, a core requirement of our Masters program in Pharmacology is that students provide public or community service averaging at least 1 hour per week, or 15 hours per semester. During the 2013-14 academic year, students in our pharmacology Master's program performed over 1500 hours of public service in the New Orleans area.