Printer-friendly format

Students wishing to practice pharmacy will now have a much better shot at getting enrolled now that pharmacy schools are popping up all over the state.

East Tennessee State University (ETSU), which began classes in January, Lipscomb University, Union University and Belmont University will each be opening new colleges of pharmacy. Prior to the announcement, the University of Tennessee, Memphis, had the only pharmacy school in the state.

Nashville-based Lipscomb will renovate three floors of the Burton Bible Building in the heart of the campus to house the 25,000-square-foot, $10 million College of Pharmacy. Construction will begin in June with a posting for applications being made in September. The first class is expected to begin in August 2008.

Roger Davis, PharmD, a Lipscomb trustee and former assistant dean for Middle Tennessee with the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy and newly appointed dean of Lipscomb University's College of Pharmacy, said it makes sense to begin the school at Lipscomb because of its history of producing sterling students who have a 90 percent acceptance rate at schools around the nation.

In addition, "We have an expanding need for pharmacists and the services they provide in Tennessee and around the country," Davis said.

"Third, Nashville has a very strong healthcare infrastructure. We have over 300 healthcare hospital based businesses in Nashville and that provides us excellent partnerships. Plus, it's Nashville. It's just a great place to live."

Up to 75 students per year will be accepted at Lipscomb.

Larry Calhoun, dean of the College of Pharmacy at East Tennessee State University, said East Tennessee needed a pharmacy school because the closest one was more than 500 miles away. Many pharmacy students were choosing to leave the area and go to schools outside the state.

"We live in a rural area, and there's always been a need for pharmacies in rural communities," Calhoun said. "The College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University and the College of Pharmacy will compliment each other. Our mission is to prepare practitioners for rural communities. Within 45 minutes, I can be in North Carolina, Kentucky or Virginia and it's fairly common for our students to come from there. Students usually stay in the area they go to school; they meet people, get married. If they leave, it's difficult to get them to come back to a rural community. We won't have that problem now. The majority will most likely stay."

Calhoun said the first 70 students are now completing their first year. The second class will begin registration on Aug. 8. In addition, the ETSU College of Pharmacy has just attained its first level accreditation status and is moving toward candidate status.

"For the first year we had 575 applicants for 70 spots," Calhoun said. "They're now in their second semester. We thought it would be drop off for second class, but we have 510 applicants and their profile mirrored the first as far as quality students that were as good or better than applied at any other school.

"Our first graduating class will be in 2010. We'll accept 70 students per year for the first two years and then 80. At the end of the first four years we'll have a base of 300 students."

The ETSU College of Pharmacy will be housed in a renovated 100-year-old, 40,000 square feet campus on the Veterans Administration campus at Mountain Home. Calhoun said the design protects the historic integrity of the exterior while making the inside a state-of-the art pharmacy school. Expected completion will be the fall of 2008.

"I spend a lot of time talking to students and parents and tell them don't come unless you want to help build a college of pharmacy," said Calhoun. "We're real proud of our school and the interest we've had in East Tennessee State University."

Belmont University in Nashville will begin enrolling students for its four-year graduate program in the 2008-09 academic year. Belmont president Dr. Bob Fisher said Belmont has made a commitment to the allied health sciences in this community.

"With our existing physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing and social work programs, we are filling great needs in Nashville, the healthcare capital, for educating the next generation of highly qualified healthcare professionals in a variety of disciplines. We are excited to add pharmacy to our growing list of offerings," Fisher said.

Belmont's School of Pharmacy will not only prepare pharmacists for their traditional roles, but also will equip them to be professionals of the future who will assume coequal partnership roles with doctors and other healthcare professionals in the assignment, management and evaluation of medication and drug regimens for patients, to analyze trends in patterns of medication use and in pharmacoeconomics for managed care corporations and insurance providers, to lead new developments in pharmacy informatics in an increasingly technology driven environment and to manage businesses and to lead people.

Union University in Jackson received a $2 million foundation gift from West Tennessee Healthcare to get its own pharmacy program rolling.

Jim Moss, president and CEO of West Tennessee Healthcare (WTH), said his organization was excited about being a partner with Union in this endeavor.

"The decision to partner with Union University in a pharmacy program is a continuation of a valued long-standing relationship we have with them to educate and train healthcare professionals for the future needs of our community," Moss said.

In addition to the $2 million gift, WTH has also agreed to provide Union with professional support for as many as four clinical pharmacists – meaning that WTH will hire the necessary pharmacists to oversee Union students working in their clinical setting.

University president David S. Dockery said Union is grateful for WTH's generous support.

Union submitted an application with the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education on March 1 and is currently searching for a dean. Union will accept between 45 and 50 students per year.



June 2007

Tags:

None