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Applicability to Applicants and Students

A. Program Applicants

  • Applicants to the Program will be notified of the criminal history check requirement as a part of the admissions process.
  • All offers of admission to the Program will be contingent upon the results of the criminal history check.
  • When applicants are offered admission to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and notify the School that they intend to enroll in the Program, they will receive an email from the Program’s third party screening organization. The email will be sent to the address that the applicant specified in his or her PharmCAS application. The message will contain a link to an online form that the applicant will use to provide basic identifying information and consent for the criminal history check to be completed.
  • Applicants who have resided in the U.S. for less than seven years will be required by Certiphi to complete an international police clearance in the country or countries where they resided prior to the U.S. Students bear the financial responsibility of the additional clearance to be completed by Certiphi. Students who have completed a federal background check (example: F1 visa, Permanent Resident card, etc.) can request that the School of Pharmacy waive the international police clearance requirement. Students who are not eligible for a waiver, can complete the police clearance on their own or they can complete a special application through Certiphi for the clearance to be managed by Certiphi with the fee being the responsibility of the student.
  • When the criminal history check has been completed, the applicant will receive an email requesting that he or she review the report. The applicant will have ten calendar days to review the report and dispute its accuracy before it is made available to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. If the applicant does not review the report within the specified ten days, it will be distributed to the School after the ten calendar days have elapsed.
  • Fees for the individual background checks are included in the PharmCAS application. This fee is non-refundable.
  • Students should consult with the PharmCAS Web site (www.pharmcas.org) for more details about the criminal history check procedures.

B. Enrolled Program Students

  • Some pharmacy practice sites may require additional or alternate background screening in order to meet a specific timeline and/or satisfy state, organization or federal laws and regulations. As a result of this, affected students (PY4 in APPE as well as rising PY1/2/3 in early immersion) may be required to complete further checks as part of their rotation compliance.
  • Students that take a semester or longer leave of absence from the Program for any reason must submit a new criminal history check before they can return to the Program.
  • Fees for the background checks must be remitted by the student directly to the agency performing the screening. This fee is non-refundable.
  • Students are required to provide practice experience sites with a copy of their criminal history check results upon request by the practice site.
  • If at any point during enrollment a student is charged with or convicted of any criminal act that may or not have been on a previous criminal background check, that student should contact the Director of Student Affairs immediately to self-disclose. Failure to self-disclose could lead to an honor court violation as well as referral to the Progressions Committee.