Campbell University opened a pharmacy this week inside the Health Center on campus. Developed to service the Campbell community, the new pharmacy will provide an added benefit of educational training for the University’s pharmacy students.
As the second semester starts, the Health Center will continue to provide care to students, and for the first time, offer services to faculty and staff which include medications and clinical services at the pharmacy.
During the development stage, Campbell’s Doctor of Pharmacy program took the reins on coordinating the new pharmacy, recognizing the great training opportunities it would offer students.
“For us it’s not only about getting the job done and taking care of students and employees, but it’s to get our students involved in medicine,” said Col. Bill Pickard, chair of the department of clinical research at the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences.
Pickard, who is also a registered pharmacist, spearheaded the logistics of the Health Center’s pharmacy. He designed the space with cutting-edge equipment in mind, and hopes to install a counting machine, robot or pharmacy cabinets in the near future. With the anticipated volume of prescriptions, this equipment will help with accuracy when filling medications and provide students with early exposure to technology.
Students will also have opportunities to complete shadow experiences, rotations and outcomes research at the pharmacy. To gain consultation experience, pharmacy students will counsel patients with the assistance of faculty mentors.
Pickard also views the pharmacy as a prime opportunity to offer patient-centered pharmacy care to employees and students.
“I’ve been approached in our dining hall by an employee having an asthma attack,” Pickard said. “This individual wasn’t using his inhaler correctly because of lack of training.”
Asthma, smoking cessation, diabetic care, lipid disorders, and hypertension are some of the enhanced services the pharmacy plans to offer in the future. “We have a lot of faculty with a lot of expertise in these areas. We hope to bring them into the facility to offer care, train students and serve as a resource to the other providers,” Pickard said.
Faculty members and students, who are all registered pharmacists and certified technicians in the state, will staff the pharmacy. Assistant Professor Andy Bowman, PharmD, has taken on the role of pharmacy manager in addition to his teaching responsibilities.
“As practitioners, our greatest reward is the patient-provider relationships. These relationships provide us with the opportunity to educate patients on how to improve their health care. I can think of no better gift as a practitioner than to provide that service to my Campbell family,” Bowman said.
When the undergraduate student body returns next week the pharmacy expects its volume to increase. The Health Center has plans to offer services to members of the community by summer 2013. This will further increase the opportunity to engage pharmacy students with additional training right here on campus.
Photo: Second-year pharmacy student Jeffrey Shearin works with Tim Henson, PharmD, associate professor of clinical research, at the new pharmacy located inside Campbell University’s Health Center.