P&T team placed within top 16 teams in the nation
Student pharmacists display managed care skills at national annual competition.
Janel Shoun-Smith | 615.966.7078 |
Lipscomb's AMCP National Student P&T team: (L to R) Jessica Duke, Brent Tucker, Mary Katherine Cella, Sean Wilson
A Lipscomb University team of student pharmacists scored within the top 16 teams in the nation at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s National Student P&T Competition for the third time this year.
Lipscomb’s teams were placed within the top eight teams nationally in 2015 and 2019, and this year Lipscomb’s team scored within the top 16 teams nationally at the March competition.
Student pharmacists Mary Katherine Cella, Jessica Duke, Brent Tucker and Sean Wilson conducted formulary review and management of Dupixent (dupilumab) injection as an add-on maintenance treatment in patients with moderate to severe asthma.
The national competition attracted submissions from more than 50 institutions. This year’s top three teams were from the University of California-San Francisco, University of North Carolina and Rutgers University.
The P&T Competition is designed to provide an immersive experience in the skills necessary for effective formulary review and management, including a written evaluation of the competition drug, recommendations for formulary placement and oral summary presentation.
“One of the key roles for pharmacists in managed care settings is related to developing drug formularies based on clinical and economic evidence for new and existing products.
These decisions are commonly made by Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committees,” said Jeff Lee, associate dean for academic affairs in Lipscomb’s College of Pharmacy.
Lipscomb student pharmacists who enroll in the elective course Formulary Decision-Making and Assessment taught by Lee learn about managed care pharmacy, utilization management tools and evidence assessment applied to formulary decisions.
“As the health care marketplace continues to evolve, it is critical for our student pharmacists to develop a contemporary skill set that includes developing skills in evaluating clinical and economic evidence to inform drug coverage decisions,” said Lee, who served for several years as a national competition judge prior to coming to Lipscomb.
“This competition is a great opportunity for our students to practice these skills, and receiving this national recognition serves to reinforce that our students are developing and excelling in this emerging area of pharmacy practice.”
In the final round of the P&T competition, teams make live presentations at the AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting. This is the seventh year that a Lipscomb team has participated in the competition.