The University of Findlay has announced that its School of Pharmacy is now the College of Pharmacy. The decision reflects the growth of the program, which began admitting students in fall 2005, and its growing role within the UF and Findlay communities. The College of Pharmacy joins five other academic colleges at The University of Findlay for business, education, health professions, liberal arts and sciences.
   
The pharmacy program, which was the first new program of its kind in 100 years in the state of Ohio, will graduate its first class of 60 students in 2010. The creation of the program was in response to an aging population with greater reliance on pharmaceutical treatment of diseases and ailments.

The University of Findlay’s Pharmacy degree combines strong emphases on basic and pharmacy sciences as preparation for entering the sixth, or clinical, year. The focus of the clinical year is collaborative practice with patients and other health professionals. Graduates of the program are qualified to pursue pharmacy licensure in all 50 states and to continue with graduate education, advanced clinical residencies or fellowships in pharmacy practice.

UF’s pharmacy program is a direct entry, or “zero-plus-six,” program. Each year, the college preferentially recruits and accepts 60 qualified high school students into the program, assuring their progression (without reapplication) throughout the six years of the program as long as standards are met.
   
The College of Pharmacy is situated in the 62,000-square-foot Davis Street Building, formerly the Findlay campus of Owens Community College, which represents the single largest addition of academic space at UF since the construction of Old Main. The building has been extensively renovated with the addition of five laboratories, including a dedicated pharmacy lab, at a cost of more than $400,000 each.

The College of Pharmacy is working toward establishment of a Patient Safety Education Center, with goals of educating and training future and current health care professionals in an interdisciplinary manner, by updating them on current patient and medication safety initiatives, providing experience with team-building and communication techniques during active simulations and providing opportunities to evaluate and utilize technology. These patient and medication safety concepts are integrated into the curriculum of the College of Pharmacy.

The graduation of the pharmacy program from a school to the College of Pharmacy is a natural progression in the growth of the young program. In 2007, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) granted the School of Pharmacy candidate certification, which allows graduates of the program to sit for the pharmacy licensure examination. UF’s College of Pharmacy is expected to receive full accreditation from ACPE after the first class has graduated from the program in May 2010.
   
For more information regarding the UF College of Pharmacy, please visit www.findlay.edu, KEYWORD: Pharmacy, or call 419-434-5327.