Teams from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, Creighton University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center will each receive the national award, sponsored by Teva Pharmaceuticals, at the 2012 AACP Annual Meeting.

In addition to receiving a commemorative prize, the winning pharmacy colleges and schools will receive $10,000 to be used exclusively to support the expansion of the recognized program or new community engaged service projects at the school. Each team receives a $5,000 financial stipend for enhancing or sustaining the recognized program or for travel support to attend and present their projects at professional meetings. The award also includes up to $2,500 to cover travel, lodging, and registration expenses for one designated student and one faculty advisor to attend the national awards ceremony at AACP’s 2012 Annual Meeting and explain their project’s impact on the community during a special session, as well as a $1,000 stipend for the faculty advisor.

A student representative and faculty advisor from each of the following schools (listed in alphabetical order by state) will be honored with a Steuben Glass Star Stream during the 2012 AACP Annual Meeting, July 14-18, at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, Florida.

School: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy

Team leader: Corey J. HayesTeam members: Sara M. Benfer, Christine L. Browning, Alissa J. FerrariFaculty advisor: Schwanda K. Flowers, Pharm.D.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy has a longstanding commitment to serving underserved populations. Illustrating this commitment is the college’s partnership with the Consulate of Mexico in Little Rock. As a result of the Consulate’s commitment to improve the living standards of Mexican communities in the region, the Ventanilla de Salud (VDS) was developed. The VDS seeks to provide information and referrals regarding healthcare resources for this vastly underserved population.

The College of Pharmacy became involved with VDS to provide influenza jobs.pharmacy-bg.com/tag/vaccine/”title=”vaccine” >vaccines and other preventative screenings at the Consulate. Patients are screened for diabetes, hyperlipidemia, osteoporosis and hypertension. Student pharmacists, under pharmacist’s supervision, provide H1N1 immunizations. Since the partnership was initiated, a total of 723 patients were immunized for influenza, 258 patients were screened for diabetes, 254 for hypertension and 185 for osteoporosis. In addition, all of these patients were provided verbal and written patient education in Spanish regarding these disease states and healthy living. The project demonstrates to students and participating pharmacists the importance of providing healthcare to underserved populations while promoting an understanding of the growing Latino culture in the area. Understanding different cultures brings better acceptance and better healthcare to these populations. The College of Pharmacy intends to expand the population base to include children because they accompany many of the VDS participants to the Consulate.

School: University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy

Team leader: Rebecca HluhanichTeam members: Meghan Frear, Helen Gavrilova, Rebecca Gayle, Nicha Tantipinichwong, Van VuongFaculty advisor: Marilyn R. Stebbins, Pharm.D.

The Partners in D program started at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy in 2006 when four student pharmacists and faculty identified a need to help underserved Medicare patients understand the Medicare Part D prescription drug program (Part D). Under the supervision of faculty members, students visited low-income housing complexes in the San Francisco Bay Area using personal laptop computers and cell phones to help underserved seniors navigate the complex Part D benefit.

At the same time, the community of current and future prescribers needed help understanding and navigating this complex benefit. When UCSF’s health policy expert, Dr. Helene Lipton, was asked to give a lecture on the components of Part D to 150 UCSF advance practice nursing students, she suggested that student pharmacists enrolled in her health policy class who were working in the field helping seniors with Part D give the lecture. With the support of the Dean’s office, and after receiving training, five student pioneers delivered their first Part D lecture to health professional students, receiving evaluations that far exceeded those typically achieved by faculty. As a result, the Peer Educator teaching initiative became an integral component of the Partners in D program. These lectures, presented by student pharmacists, are delivered to health professional students, trainees and faculty at UCSF and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

School: Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions

Team leader: Edward M. SaitoTeam members: Megan E. Geyer, Shelby M. Mizumoto, Tim J. Schulte, Stuart B. UtleyFaculty advisor: Ann M. Ryan-Haddad, Pharm.D.

The Creighton University Interprofessional Falls Prevention Program assisted Seven Oaks of Florence, an independent living community in Omaha, Neb., in completing its COLLAGE Health Assessments, a customized suite of standardized and systematic resident assessments that evaluate health and wellness in areas such as memory loss, nutrition, balance and mental well-being.

The fall prevention program was comprised of three elements: data collection, assessment and intervention. Pharmacy and nursing students visited with residents on a weekly basis to conduct COLLAGE interviews. During these sessions, students asked residents about their general health and well-being, specifically targeting the issues of balance, vision, hearing, incontinence and medication use. Student pharmacists compiled a complete medication list and past medical history of self-reported diagnoses for each resident. An initial medication review was then performed to screen for drug-related fall risks. After all the data had been collected, adjustments were made to the patient’s medical care and home life to lower the risk of falling.

The project promoted the health and independence of an underserved population while fostering interprofessional teamwork and collaboration. The team, which consisted of 35 physical and occupational therapy, pharmacy and nursing students and six faculty advisors, performed 41 COLLAGE assessments, 19 Berg Balance assessments and six home safety checklists. Benefits to the residents were the assessments to identify risks for falls and recommendations for interventions to prevent falls, while the students were provided with opportunities to communicate with older adults, participate in clinical decision making and contribute to a healthcare team.

School: University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy

Team leader: Kyle McCartneyTeam members: Brandon Bohn, Mary Manning-Kechely, Becky SchainostFaculty advisor: Kristen M. Cook, Pharm.D.

The Student Health Alliance Reaching Indigent Needy Groups (SHARING) Clinic is an interdisciplinary program that brings together medical, nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant, physical therapy, medical technology, public health, counseling and nutrition students to provide care to the uninsured and indigent in the Omaha area in various clinic settings. These include a family medicine clinic, a clinic for prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, and a third clinic providing care for patients with type 2 diabetes. It is unique to the Omaha area in that it is the only clinical program funded and managed by students from the many healthcare disciplines at UNMC.

Pharmacy plays an integral role on the interdisciplinary healthcare team. At the SHARING clinic, the student pharmacists and other student providers obtain a comprehensive patient history, and together they design and implement an optimal therapeutic regimen for the patient. Student pharmacists are utilized specifically during a patient’s medication review and when a patient is counseled on medication use. Students are also an excellent resource for educating patients about other aspects of therapy including the use of medical devices such as glucometers and inhalers. The student providers from other disciplines rely on student pharmacists for up-to-date information about correct dosages, appropriate medication changes, formulary management and substitutions, indications, side effects, and cost effectiveness, demonstrating the value a pharmacist can contribute to patient care. It establishes collaborative practice as a standard of care in one of healthcare students’ first exposure to patients.

About AACP

Founded in 1900, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) is a national organization representing the interests of pharmacy education and educators. Comprising 124 accredited colleges and schools of pharmacy with more than 6,000 faculty and 60,000 students, AACP is committed to excellence in pharmacy education. Visit www.aacp.org to learn more and stay connected with the Association on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Student Pharmacists to Receive National Community Engaged Service Award American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

During the week-long celebrations, the  Indian Pharmaceutical Association local branch Belgaum conducted a 2-km rally.   The rally was inaugurated by Prof. Chandrakant Kokate, Vice Chancellor, KLE University, Belgaum along with dignitaries including  Deputy Drug Controller, Drug Inspector, Belgaum district, Prof, F V Manvi, Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, KLE University, Prof, A D Taranalli, Principal, KLEU’s College of Pharmacy, Prof. M S Ganachari, President, IPA local branch.

With the objective to create awareness on theme “Pharmacist- a healthcare professional”, pharmacists from various colleges participated.  In continuation to these activities, pharmacists and  faculties from KLEU’s College of Pharmacy, Belgaum visited various schools and delivered sessions on  dangers of self medication and the promising prospects of pharmacy as a career.

There was also a “Pharma Exhibition” to create awareness and encourage school going students to learn practical aspects of drug utilization. This event was held at KLE University’s College of Pharmacy premises and inaugurated by Prof. A D Taranalli, Principal. Various schools of Belgaum city participated. The valedictory function concluded to highlight the  message that the  ‘Pharmacist- a friend in need is a friend indeed.”

KLE University’s College of Pharmacy conducts National Pharmacy Week is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

“The foundation of what we do at the School is based on our mission to lead pharmacy education, scientific discovery, patient care, and community engagement in the state of Maryland and beyond,” she said. “The annual State of the School of Pharmacy Address provides an introspective opportunity to examine our endeavors, opportunities, and challenges and to focus our journey as we go forward.”

In the area of education, the School has 633 Doctor of Pharmacy students. Applications to the School’s PharmD program in 2011 totaled 1,220, which is comparable to the number of applications the School has had over the past four years. The School admits about 160 students to that program each year. Of those admitted to the Class of 2015, nearly 90 percent entered with at least one college degree.

“This year was a milestone for us as we graduated our first group of 33 students from our program at the Universities at Shady Grove in May,” Eddington said. “Our total number of graduating students was 144.”

Of those 144 graduating students, 44 percent chose jobs in community pharmacies, and 29 percent chose pharmacy residencies. “We noted this year a significant decrease in the number of new positions for our pharmacy graduates in health-system and hospital pharmacies,” Eddington said. “We had a career fair at the School recently, and the health system representatives indicated that the number of available positions will be more favorable in the future.”

The School’s graduate programs in its Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC) and its Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research (PHSR) enrolled a combined total of 65 students. PHSR enrolled seven new students for the fall of 2011, the largest group in recent years. Graduates of these programs go on to careers in academia, the pharmaceutical industry, and with the government.

The residency and fellowship training program continues to flourish in the School’s Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science (PPS), Eddington reported. Residents and fellows can now choose among 14 specializations. “We have a great partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center where they co-fund six of our residency positions,” she said. “This allows us to expand and offer more positions.”

In the area of practice, faculty in PPS provided clinical care in 33 ambulatory and 14 inpatient settings, delivered more than 65,000 hours of patient care, and received $6 million in sponsored projects. Other activities in the department focused on the continued development of the Center for Innovative Pharmacy Solutions, which hosted a National Leadership Roundtable in June focused on the pharmacistýs role in health care reform, and the implementation of a patient-centered medical home pilot project in conjunction with the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

“The patient-centered medical home pilot project is a wonderful collaboration with our partners in the School of Medicine that brings together physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals to coordinate medical care to patients,” Eddington said. “In the pilot project, Katy Pincus, PharmD, an assistant professor of pharmacy practice and science, provides comprehensive medication management services to patients and also works on the approval process for billing of pharmacist-provided services, which has historically been a challenge for pharmacists. And our Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, under the direction of assistant professor Gail Rattinger, PharmD, PhD, will be leading the evaluation of all 53 pilot sites in the state that are serving more than 300,000 patients.”

In research, the School was the recipient of several large grants and contracts in FY11. In the PHSR, several faculty members are working on projects with the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration (ADAA) in the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Linda Simoni-Wastila, PhD, a professor in the department, is providing ADAA with epidemiological data for prevention planning, monitoring, and evaluation of programs to reduce the consumption and adverse consequences associated with alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs. Francoise Pradel, PhD, an associate professor, is evaluating community-based initiatives aimed at minimizing underage drinking, binge drinking, and alcohol-related crashes in the state’s youth.

In the PSC, Bruce Yu, PhD, an associate professor with a joint appointment at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), received a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Bioimaging and Biomedical Engineering to develop new dyes to enhance resolution and accuracy of probes for noninvasive imaging of disease diagnosis. Professor Steve Hoag, PhD, is the School’s lead investigator on a $35 million award from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Technology (NIPTE) to improve the drug manufacturing process and enhance safety. NIPTE is a consortium of 10 universities across the country and the School of Pharmacy is one of its founding members, Eddington said.

The School, in collaboration with UMCP, has been designated as an FDA Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation. This award will span a three year period with a focus on developing scientific exchanges with the FDA in order to improve preclinical assessments of safety and efficacy, ensure readiness to evaluate innovative and emerging technologies, and harness diverse data through information sciences to improve health outcomes.

PHSR faculty earned $4.7 million in research grants and contracts, and PSC earned $5.6 million. The School’s total for research awards received in Fiscal Year 2011 was $16.6 million, with more than $5 million of that funding coming from the National Institutes of Health, a 40 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.

With outreach and community service a priority for the School of Pharmacy, its Maryland Poison Center continued to fill a strong need in the state. The center, based in PPS, received more than 65,000 calls in FY11, with 35,000 of those involving human exposures. “The Maryland Poison Center serves a vital role in our state and provides a great deal of public health service,” Eddington said.

A highlight of the year was the Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designation from the U.S. Green Building Council for the new Pharmacy Hall. “Our new building is one of the few education and research-intensive Gold buildings located in an urban area,” Eddington said. “It is proving to be an oasis at the University because of its light-filled atrium, large gathering spaces, and calming atmosphere. Our design, construction, and management teams were able to produce a space that reduces its footprint through its numerous environmentally friendly features.”

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is the fourth oldest school of pharmacy in the United States and is consistently ranked in the top 10 by U.S. News & World Report.

In addition to cutting-edge research in drug delivery mechanisms, cost impact studies, basic drug discovery and development, and disease management, the School engages in a wide variety of professional practice activities, partnering with over 200 community pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes, and more than agencies to provide services to citizens and practitioners around the state and across the nation.

School of Pharmacy Dean Presents 2011 State of the School Address is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

That’s near the workplaces of hundreds of dual-income families, said Michelle Solari, owner of the new Goddard School franchise.

The school site at Northeast 134th Street and 27th Avenue is within a half mile of two major employers, Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center and Washington State University Vancouver.

The county’s first Goddard School opened in 2005 at 3111 S.E. 192nd Ave., off Southeast 31st Street, another hot spot near higher-wage-paying employers such as Hewlett Packard, WaferTech and Sharp ­Microelectronics.

That Goddard School is owned by Janice Wright and was Solari’s introduction to the school system, she said. Solari said her three children attended the east Vancouver site, which helped her recognize the need for a similar program in the Salmon Creek area.

“I looked at a lot of different locations, and Salmon Creek seemed to be the best fit,” she said.

Dual-income families make up the bulk of clients at the Goddard School, which offers a learning-through-play curriculum and child care to children 6 weeks to 6 years old.

Solari said the Salmon Creek ­Goddard School is scheduled to open in mid-2012 and will operate from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. It will accommodate as many as 130 students and employ between 25 and 30 people, including an education director and teachers with backgrounds in early-childhood education. Solari said tuition rates have not yet been finalized for the school, which will include nine classrooms, an infant room and an outdoor play area.

According to the parenting website http://thebump.com, Goddard School tuition can range from $900 per month for a toddler to $1,200 per month for an infant, although averages vary greatly by location.

Solari said each Goddard School location must operate within guidelines set by Goddard Systems Inc., the franchise parent based in King of Prussia, Pa.

The company has more than 370 franchises in 34 states, with a total enrollment of 45,000 students.

The 8,000-square-foot school in Salmon Creek is being developed by LJS Investors LLC, a Vancouver company owned by the Oliva family, which owns the Hi School Pharmacy chain.

“They (Goddard School) are a successful brand nationwide, so this seemed like a good opportunity,” said Josh Oliva, company spokesman and project manager.

Crews from Robertson & Olson Construction will oversee work on the school as the project’s general contractor.

Child care center construction to begin soon is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

Brookline High School peer leadership program receives grant is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

The PCI has barred admissions to these colleges from the ensuing academic year 2012-13. The PCI has informed the state government that these colleges have violated the Education Regulation Act, 1999, by admitting more students than they were permitted and has asked the government to initiate action against them. It also asked the government not to include these colleges in Eamcet counselling next year.

The managements of these colleges claim that their intake is as approved by AICTE and that PCI’s diktat is unilateral and unjustified. They have urged the PCI to sort out the problem with AICTE. While PCI gives approval for 60 seats in a jobs.pharmacy-bg.com/”title=”pharmacy” >pharmacy college, AICTE has approved an intake of up to 200 seats. PCI’s contention is that AICTE has given indiscriminate approval to the increase in student intake without conducting proper inspections to see whether the infrastructure and faculty in the colleges is adequate.

Pharmacy Council of India has made it clear that it will not recognise the degrees awarded to students by colleges that gave admissions in excess of the number approved by PCI.

7 Pharma colleges blacklisted is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

The Clinical Education Center at Norton Hospital’s downtown campus began in 2006. It has resulted in 86 UK pharmacy students completing their education in Louisville, with more than 50 of them beginning their careers here.

That’s proof the initiative has succeeded, said Paul Allen, Norton’s associate vice president of pharmacy services.

“Back when we started, we had a pretty significant pharmacist shortage,” he said. “We have seen a real benefit in both the supply and quality of …

Steve Ivey covers these beats: Health care, health insurance, attorneys, human resources, technology, automotive (Ford), media/marketing/printing, young professionals, West End, East End.

Norton to invest in UK pharmacy program for three more years is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

A study on diabetic patients by the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences identified cost savings with improvements in a key indicator of glucose control in diabetes patients, the hemoglobin A1C measurement. The A1C provides a three-month average of the amount of excess glucose in the blood. Higher A1Cs indicate that a patient is at higher risk for developing long-term complications associated with diabetes, such as kidney disease or vision problems.

School of Pharmacy, Buffalo School of Pharmacy, University, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmaceutical, pharmacists, Pharmacy, School, health care, health, care, Pharmacy Schools and University

Published last spring in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, the UB study of 50 patients with Type 2 diabetes demonstrated that in just six months clinical pharmacists, in collaboration with primary care providers, were able to significantly reduce patients’ A1C levels.

In the UB study, patients’ A1C levels were reduced by an average of 1.1 percent, from an average of 8.5 percent to 7.4 percent, one year after being enrolled in the program, while also improving the overall metabolic profile.

“Our results show that enhancing the patient’s access to care through collaborative physician-pharmacist relationships can yield lower blood glucose levels, improve the overall metabolic profile and reduce costs to the payer,” says Erin Slazak, PharmD, UB clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice and board certified pharmacotherapy specialist.

These clinical improvements occurred while monthly costs per patient went down by approximately $212, around $2,500 per year, even though there were nominal increases in the cost of medications prescribed.

The key to success?

“Patients had unlimited access to pharmacists throughout the year,” says Slazak.

School of Pharmacy, Buffalo School of Pharmacy, University, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmaceutical, pharmacists, Pharmacy, School, health care, health, care, Pharmacy Schools and University

Patients referred to the UB program had been identified by their primary care providers as having difficulty controlling their blood sugar. Slazak notes that it was not uncommon to see patients with glucose levels as high as 400 mg/dl (normal levels are below 100 mg/dl).

The UB pharmacists spent an initial one-hour appointment with each patient, where they worked up detailed health records covering dietary information and all medications and disease conditions, and then reviewed them with each patient.

After that, patients could call or make appointments with pharmacists at will.

“We did extensive education with patients about how to manage their conditions,” says Slazak. “In many cases, we were instrumental in getting them to start insulin. There is a lot of resistance to that, and not just because it’s an injection.”

For patients in the initial stages of administering insulin, she says it was common to be contacted once every few days. The pharmacists then made suggestions to physicians about changes in medications, dosages or lifestyle that might be beneficial to their patients.

That kind of individualized attention is far from the norm for diabetic patients.

“Nationwide, the standard of care is that the primary care provider manages diabetes alone,” says Slazak. “Pharmacists typically do not have direct involvement.”

That is partly because some states, including New York, have not yet approved collaborative practice agreements between physicians and pharmacists. In the Buffalo study, for example, physicians were required to review pharmacists’ recommendations and approve all interventions first. Completion of the review process and approval occurred in only half of the cases, potentially limiting the overall benefit to the patient.

“We know there’s a long-term clinical and economic benefit to pharmacists working directly with patients and we think that can continue to grow,” says Scott V. Monte, PharmD, UB clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice and director of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Research, CPL Associates, LLC, in Buffalo. “Pharmacists can help achieve better outcomes if given the chance.”

The study was conducted through MedSense™, part of the Pharmacotherapy Research Initiative, a collaborative effort between Lifetime Health Medical Group and UB, to study how pharmacists impact patient care. MedSense™ is one of many program sites that are part of the UB Pharmacotherapy Research Initiative in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, which was established to study how pharmacy medication management can improve the health of patients while cutting costs through patient-centered pharmacotherapy.

In addition to Slazak and Monte, other co-authors on the paper include Nicole Paolini Albanese, PharmD, UB clinical assistant professor; Martin Adelman, PhD, chief information officer at CPL Associates, LLC; Gauri Rao, a student in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Joseph A. Paladino, PharmD, UB professor of pharmacy and director of outcomes research at CPL Associates, LLC.

The program is jointly funded by Lifetime Health Medical Group and the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Pharmacists Improve Care of Diabetics While Cutting Costs, Research Shows is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has banned students, faculty, and staff from covering their faces on its three campuses in an effort to ensure public safety, a college spokesman said yesterday.

Pharmacy school bars covering of the face is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools