The Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy (CCP) is a coalition of pharmacy organizations committed to providing leadership, guidance, public information and coordination for credentialing programs in or relevant to pharmacy. The vision of CCP is that all credentialing programs in pharmacy will meet established standards of quality and contribute to improvement in patient care and the overall public health.

Letters & Statements:  2026 | 2025

Statements 

AACP joins joint statement from ASHP and APhA in support of the American Nurses Association on the violence in Minnesota (January 30, 2026)

AACP signs on to APhA Pharmacy Profession Vaccine Statement (January 26, 2026)

Letters 

AACP joins AAP and 200+ Organizations in Congressional Request for Oversight of Childhood Vaccine Schedule Changes (January 9, 2026)

What is Pharmaceutical Science?

Pharmaceutical science, defined by the AACP Research and Graduate Affairs Committee, encompasses a broad range of interdisciplinary fields related to drug discovery, optimization, delivery, optimal dosing, as well as health outcomes and policy. Disciplines of pharmaceutical sciences may include, but are not limited to, medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutics, pharmacogenetics, pharmacology, biotechnology, pharmacoeconomics, pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacokinetics/clinical pharmacokinetics, clinical pharmacy/ pharmacotherapy, patient safety, regulatory science, health informatics, outcomes, and public health aspects of drug discovery and optimization.

Some common subdisciplines of pharmaceutical science are defined below.

Medicinal Chemistry

Medicinal chemistry is the application of chemical research techniques to the synthesis of pharmaceuticals. During the early stages of medicinal chemistry development, scientists were primarily concerned with the isolation of medicinal agents found in plants. Today, scientists in this field are also equally concerned with the creation of new synthetic drug compounds. Medicinal chemistry is almost always geared toward drug discovery and development.¹

Pharmacology

Pharmacology is the science of drug action on biological systems. It embraces knowledge of the sources, chemical properties, biological effects and therapeutic uses of drugs. Pharmacologists are also involved in molecular modeling of drugs and the use of drugs as tools to dissect aspects of cell function.²

Toxicology

Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects of chemical, physical, or biological agents on living organisms and the ecosystem, including the prevention and amelioration of such adverse effects. Toxicologists are scientists that often work in academic institutions, government, or industry.³

Pharmaceutics

Pharmaceutics is a multidisciplinary science that examines the relationships between drug formulation, delivery, disposition and clinical response. Most graduates are employed in the pharmaceutical industry and academia.⁴

Social Administrative Sciences

The widespread use and dependency on drugs and drug products in today's society, coupled with an increased utilization and application of pharmaceutical services, has created a need for individuals who can study the social, psychosocial, political, legal, historic and economic factors that impinge upon the use, non-use and abuse of drugs. A number of critical factors shaping the health policies in the United States and around the world emphasize the need for increased research concerning the role of pharmaceuticals and the pharmacy practitioner in new and old systems of health care. Social administrative sciences foster the application of behavior-oriented interdisciplinary theories to pharmacy problem solving and pharmacy system development. Positions of responsibility and leadership are available in the pharmaceutical distribution systems of industrial and wholesaling practice, in clinically centered environments, in professional pharmacy organizations, in agencies of government, and in educational institutions.⁵

Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Sciences

The discipline of clinical and translational science encompasses a broad spectrum of research, extending from basic discoveries with implications for human health to community-based epidemiologic and health services studies – and back! The unifying theme is a commitment to apply scientific methodologies to address a health need. As such, clinical and translational research is a multi-dimensional, cross-cutting discipline that encompasses multidisciplinary investigative teams from many different subspecialty areas. Moreover, success in clinical and translational science commonly requires constructive partnerships with industry, granting agencies, public health agencies, and regulatory agencies. Thus, many thousands of individuals in the United States are engaged in, or support, clinical and translational research.⁶

Regulatory Affairs

Regulatory affairs is concerned with the development and enforcement of regulations to ensure the safety and efficacy of healthcare products.⁷

Regulatory Science

Regulatory science assesses the safety, efficacy, quality and performance of products.⁸

Resources:

1. American Chemical Society
2. American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
3. Society of Toxicology
4. University of Washington School of Pharmacy
5. University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy
6. Association for Clinical and Translational Science
7. Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society
8. U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Professional Affairs Final Reports are published in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.

Professional Affairs Final Committee Report 2015-2016 - Priming the Preceptor Pipeline: Collaboration, Resources, and Recognition

Professional Affairs Final Committee Report 2014-2015 - Producing Practice-Ready Pharmacy Graduates in an Era of Value-Based Healthcare

Professional Affairs Committee Final Report 2013-14 - Advancing the Pharmacy Profession Together through Pharmacy Technician and Pharmacy Education Partnerships

Student Professionalism Special Committee Report

This committee convened in 2011 and was charged to examine the status of various initiatives, which aim to build and assess professional attitudes and behaviors in student pharmacists, including:

The Pharmacy College Application Service (PharmCAS) is a centralized application service that is used by the majority of colleges and schools of pharmacy. Designed for first-year professional pharmacy degree applicants, PharmCAS offers a simple, efficient process to apply to multiple colleges and schools of pharmacy using a single Web-based application. High school students, B.S. Pharmacy degree graduates, and current student pharmacists who wish to transfer to another pharmacy degree program should contact institutions directly for instructions.

Is Pharmacy Right for You?

There has never been a better time for students to consider a rewarding career in pharmacy. The demand for trained pharmacy professionals has dramatically increased in recent years due to the rapid growth of the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, especially for the growing elderly population. The number of pharmacists in healthcare services is also increasing as pharmacists become more actively involved in medication therapy decision-making for patients of all ages.

If you enjoy working with people, excel in science and would like a rewarding career in healthcare, PHARMACY may be the right career for you!

Learn more about pharmacy careers on AACP's Pharmacy Is Right for Me website at www.pharmacy4me.org.

The 2011–2012 Argus Commission, in their report, Cultivating 'Habits of Mind' in the Scholarly Pharmacy Clinician, recommended that colleges and schools of pharmacy identify the most effective validated assessments of inquisitiveness, critical thinking, and professionalism for use in admissions. They also recommended that pre-pharmacy requirements be minimized in favor of the aforementioned assessments as well as considering pre-pharmacy experiences that develop an inquisitive mind.

The creation of issue-specific workgroups has been proposed as a strategy to improve AACP’s capacity to proactively engage in public policy development and implementation. The expertise of each workgroup will assist AACP in the development of strategies to enhance communications to and from AACP members on priority issues. The list of priority issues will be established annually through AACP leaders and staff input and in alignment with the AACP policy framework. The rationale for such action is to:

Writing an Issue Brief

The issue brief is a short, written document that: