Lipscomb to establish first college of pharmacy in Middle Tennessee
Janel Shoun |
Lipscomb University’s Board of Trustees has approved a proposal to create the first College of Pharmacy in Nashville, Lipscomb President Randy Lowry announced to faculty today.
After seven months of research and discussion, including an analysis by a national pharmacy education consultant, review by a Lipscomb faculty task force and consultation with local experts in the pharmacy field, the university’s board of trustees approved the proposal at its quarterly meeting earlier this month, Lowry said.
“Feasibility studies and consultants’ advice showed that Lipscomb’s central geographic location, mission-minded curriculum and availability of facilities all make it an excellent campus to establish a new pharmacy college,” Lowry said. “As a private, faith-based liberal arts university, Lipscomb can provide a unique option for pharmacy students in the Southeast and across the nation.”
Lipscomb officials are currently planning for an inaugural class of 65-70 students to begin in the fall of 2008. Provost Craig Bledsoe will immediately begin a search for a founding dean of recognized excellence in pharmacy education to lead the curriculum development effort and prepare for the accreditation process.
Lipscomb’s journey toward establishing a college of pharmacy began with a faculty-generated proposal to study the possibility and a June site visit and report by national consultant Dr. Joseph Dean, a former pharmacy school dean from Birmingham who has helped several universities establish pharmacy programs.
“I was impressed with the creative thinking regarding mission fit as well as assessment of the campus’ physical infrastructure,” Dean said in his report. “The faith-based focus of the university offers an impetus to extend into service of underserved populations in the state and region.”
Board members and administrators agreed that a pharmacy college at Lipscomb would be a positive step in addressing the growing need for highly qualified pharmacists throughout the nation. Due in part to a rapidly aging population demanding more health care services, the nation is expected to continue experiencing a major shortage of pharmacists.“The board saw a pharmacy college as extremely compatible with Lipscomb’s mission to develop in its students a lifelong commitment to the service of others,” said Gerald Coggin, Lipscomb trustee and senior vice president of corporate relations at National Healthcare Corporation, a Murfreesboro-based company providing long-term care in 10 states.
“The majority of pharmacists today work in community-based practices, serving their neighbors, and with recent Medicare changes, pharmacists have become even more important to patients nationwide,” he said.
As the home of 33 major health care companies, the Nashville region certainly needs a pharmacy program of its own, and Lipscomb University has the right credentials to do it, said Coggin, listing the university’s history of excellent science education as a major factor.
“Lipscomb science graduates are already in high demand both at medical schools and local health care corporations,” Coggin said. “The industry knows it can count on Lipscomb graduates to have an excellent foundation in both sciences and business, which are both valuable to health care executives.”
“Lipscomb pursues an investigative approach to science education with a focus on hands-on learning and educational activities outside the classroom,” said Bledsoe. “Giving our students a wide variety of experiences has paid off in consistently high placement rates into medical schools and is therefore a natural area for us to expand our offerings into doctoral education.”
Dean recommended that Lipscomb pursue a 2 + 4 program, which requires two years of undergraduate pre-professional training and then admittance to a four-year first professional degree program. Students would emerge with a doctor of pharmacy the terminal degree required for pharmacists to practice.
Lipscomb’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences has been busy in the past decade, establishing and growing the Raymond B. Jones School of Engineering, accredited in 2004, and creating a nursing program, another high-demand career area, in partnership with Vanderbilt University in 2003.
As the only private, faith-based program in Tennessee, Lipscomb’s pharmacy program will draw a national student body, being especially attractive to students looking for faith-based education and world-wide mission and service opportunities.
“Nashville’s stable economy and central location in the Southeast will be attractive to many potential students, especially those looking for a Christian education. Coupled with pharmacy’s licensure reciprocity process, students from all over the nation could see Lipscomb as a viable option to earn their Pharm.D.,” said Dr. Roger Davis, a Lipscomb trustee and former assistant dean for Middle Tennessee with the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy.
Lipscomb’s Nashville location will benefit pharmacy students as the city’s expansive health care delivery infrastructure will provide an abundance of quality educational opportunities. Nashville’s health care companies already value student pharmacists who assist in providing health care services while engaged in practicum experiences. Lipscomb students will provide an additional and immediate resource for those companies, said Davis.
“With pharmacists’ duties expanding to include more intensive patient consultations and involvement in drug therapy decisions and monitoring, opportunities for quality practice placements will be in abundance for many years,” he said.