Public Health Opportunities at a New Doctor of Pharmacy Program

Objective: SUCOP believes that in today\u27s healthcare system, pharmacists must be educated to a greater extent in the area of public health. Pharmacy students must be trained to work within health systems as well as individually to improve health quality, patient safety, disease prevention, health promotion, and patient self-care. The objective of this poster is to show how the SUCOP has incorporated concepts from the APHA Public Health Policy Statement and the CAPE outcomes on public health into our curriculum. Methods/Results: In order to fulfill the APHA Public Health Policy Statement and CAPE outcomes, we created Professional Fridays which will allow students to participate in health screenings, provide MTM services, and explore careers in Public Health. We have also created a Public Health course and a Medication Safety course focusing on public health issues. Students will be trained to perform MTM services throughout the curriculum calumniating with public health activities during their pharmacy practice experiences. All of our ambulatory care experiences will be providing some type of MTM service and we are planning to open a community pharmacy on-site to provide MTM services to the community. Future plans include the creation of a dual PharmD/MPH degree with the University of Louisville, as well as collaborations on other projects and educational opportunities for our students. Lastly, the SUCOP-developed outcome expectations contain three outcomes specifically devoted to public health. Implications: Students trained at the SUCOP will have ample opportunities to be educated regarding and participate in public health opportunities for pharmacists