Pharmacy graduate student and BSPS graduate Ermias Gebremichael is congratulated by Rep. Marcy Kaptur as he receives U.S. citizenship.
Read more. (Toledo Blade article)
P4 Student Alex Adams, a fourth-generation UT pharmacy student, proves that publication is not reserved for graduate students. In his Pharmacy Careers article about politics and pharmacy, Adams discusses the importance of political involvement in legislature that affects the practice of pharmacy. Read more
Pharmacy students administer flu vaccines
Pharmacy students to transition from study to practice
The first-ever independent commencement for the College of Pharmacy will be held at 7 p.m., Friday, May 2, at Stranahan Theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd.
More than 280 students are candidates for degrees in five programs -- doctor of pharmacy, bachelor of science in pharmaceutical sciences, master of science and Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry, and master of science in pharmaceutical sciences. Student achievement and faculty teaching awards also will be presented.
The commencement speaker will be David M. Boyer, the current president of the Ohio Pharmacists Association and a staff pharmacist for Summa Health System in Akron. He is a 1973 UT pharmacy graduate. In 2000, he received the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy Norman F. Billups Distinguished Alumni Service Award. He is a past president of the Ohio Society of Health-System Pharmacists, which awarded him its highest honor, the Walter M. Frazier Award. Boyer also holds membership in the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
The college also will confer an honorary doctor of science degree to Parviz Boodjeh, a 1954 UT graduate and founder, chairman and CEO of Medina-based Discount Drug Mart Inc. The company is comprised of 67 retail drug stores in Ohio and ranks eighth nationally in drug-store retail sales. The successful businessman established the first Discount Drug Mart in Elyria in 1969, and his idea of providing one-stop shopping and a wide variety of products led to the chain's spectacular growth.
There will be two valedictorians at the ceremony, one for the PharmD. graduates and one for the undergraduate BSPS program.
College of Pharmacy Professor and Dean Johnnie Early II will preside over the ceremonies.
Big smiles were the order of the day for nine graduating College of Pharmacy students who learned March 20 where they will pursue the next phase of their pharmacy education after participating in the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists' (ASHP) Resident Match Program.
In addition, nine others lined up residency positions outside the match.
After they pass state pharmacy board exams, about 20 percent of UT Pharm.D. graduates pursue residencies, while the remainder takes jobs in hospitals and community settings, according to Dr. Martin Ohlinger, assistant professor of pharmacy practice. The residencies are one-to two-year positions in which graduates pursue advanced studies in focused areas such as community practice, pharmacy practice, primary care, ambulatory care and pharmacotherapy.
Among the hospitals where the students are headed are UT Medical Center, Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital, Houston's Methodist Hospital, ProMedica Health System's W.W. Knight Family Practice Center, Summa Health System in Akron, Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay, Texas Tech University, and Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix.
In addition, two current first-year residents in the College of Pharamcy's ASHP-accredited residency program are continuing in second-year programs that focus on areas such as cardiology and transplant medicine, and Dr. Bryan Dotson, a second-year critical-care pharmacy resident, has accepted a surgical critical-care position at Detroit Medical Center.
Although a pharmacy residency is not required following completion of the college's Pharm.D. degree program, Ohlinger says he encourages students to consider the additional year of training because of pharmacists' new, evolving roles, particularly community pharmacists who are spending more time helping patients manage their use of medication.
"Residency training as a worthwhile investment in their future," he said. "Pharmacy is moving toward providing many more services for patients and for health-care providers as opposed to just providing a product."
Like the medical-student match, graduating pharmacy students across the country rank their preferences for specialties and medical institutions. Hospitals then list the people they want to hire. A computer completes the hookup. The match process is administered by National Matching Services, Inc., which also conducts the match for medical and dental residencies.
In recent years, pharmacy, like other health professions, has ratcheted up the level of basic education to meet the demands of patient care in a rapidly evolving health-care system.
Most pharmacy schools, including UT's, have phased out the bachelor's degree in favor of the pharmacy doctorate, or Pharm.D. degree, which requires at least two years of undergraduate study followed by four academic years -- or three calendar years -- of professional pharmacy curriculum.
The College of Pharmacy's residency program offers specialized training in community practice, pharmacy practice, critical care, and psychiatric pharmacy and has educational affiliation agreements with UTMC, Neighborhood Health Association, Kroger grocery stories and the Louis Stokes VA Center in Cleveland.
Nationally, 2, 341 pharmacy students competed for 2,113 residency slots at hospitals, clinics, community practices and managed-care settings administered by approximately 1,003 residency programs.
A University of Toledo College of Pharmacy student has been selected as a 2007-08 recipient of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Student Leadership Award.
Andrea Pallotta, a third-year professional division student from Richfield, Ohio, is one of 12 students nationwide to receive the award that consists of a plaque, an ASHSP drug-information reference library and a $2,500 cash award from the ASHP Foundation funded through the Walter Jones Memorial Pharmacy Student Financial Aid Fund.
More than 90 students representing 59 schools participated.
Pallotta, who has maintained an outstanding undergraduate and graduate academic record, is currently president of the UT chapter of the Student Society of Health System Pharmacists and recently served as president of the Alpha Zeta Omega pharmaceutical fraternity.
She has worked and learned as a technician and intern at the Louis Strokes Veterans Administration Center in Brecksville, Ohio, for more than four years and at Heartland Healthcare Services in Toledo for more than two years. She is among a handful of students to receive a teaching assistant position in the College of Pharmacy.
"Andrea's enthusiasm for this college and the University and for her future profession of pharmacy is both unwavering and contagious," said Dr. Martin Ohlinger, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, who nominated her for the award. "Andrea's success in the classroom, in addition to her endeavors in pharmacy practice and leadership, speaks to her ability to perform on many levels at once without sacrificing or compromising excellence. In my 12 years of health-system practice and teaching, I have not met an individual more worthy of this award."
The ASHP award program consists of 12 awards annually, awarded to four student members in each professional year of pharmacy school, beginning with the second professional year.
It promises be a busy year for Dr. Johnnie L. Early, College of Pharmacy professor and dean.
He will finish in July a two-year stint as chair for the Council of Ohio Colleges of Pharmacy and is the new chair of the North Carolina-based National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA) Foundation Board of Trustees.
Six universities -- UT, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Pharmacy , Ohio Northern and Ohio State universities, and the universities of Findlay and of Cincinnati -- make up the council that develops experiential training sites for pharmacy students, offers a licensure-examination review course, and works with Ohio pharmacy organizations to advance the profession.
The council has been working to elevate the importance of pharmacy practice in community pharmacies and in hospitals and studying trends in pharmacy education.
The foundation is the NPhA's fund raising arm and supports its educational, research and practice-innovation activities and scholarships and assistance to the Student National Pharmaceutical Association. It also supports the NPhA in its efforts to represent the views of minority pharmacists and advance pharmaceutical-care standards.
As foundation chairman, Early said he plans to "focus on the membership of National Pharmacy Association as part of an enhanced bottom-up philanthropic strategy with emphasis on support for pharmacy students." In July 2007, the NPhA Foundation awarded $20,000 in scholarships to pharmacy students.
Terrence Burroughs, foundation president and treasurer, said Dr. Early's leadership will be positive, noting that Early is "very energetic" and a "valuable asset to the NPhA."
The new appointment is the latest in a long line of leadership posts and honors for the Macon, Ga., native, who joined UT in 2000 after serving as dean of the South Carolina College of Pharmacy " formerly the Medical College of South Carolina College of Pharmacy " and of the pharmacy college at Florida A&M University.
He is past NPhA president, during which time he helped enhance scholarships for students, opened opportunities for residencies and graduate training, and launched an extensive continuing education program and a pharmacy school recruitment fair.
He has been named among the 50 most influential pharmacists in America by American Druggist and received the NPhA's Chauncey I. Cooper Award, its highest honor, in 2002.
Four University of Toledo faculty members were honored at the 37th Congress of the Society of Critical Care Medicine held in Honolulu Feb. 2-8.
The 14,000-member society, headquartered in Mount Prospect, Ill., is an international multidisciplinary body for physicians, nurses, clinical pharmacists, respiratory therapists and other health professionals involved in critical-care medicine.
Dr. Martin Ohlinger, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, received a presidential citation for his contributions to the society in 2007, while Dr. Steven Martin, associate professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, was recognized for completing his first of an elected, third-year term on the society's Governing Board. He also gave several lectures at the meeting.
Drs. John J. Fath, professor of surgery and director of trauma surgery, and Thomas J. Papadimos, associate professor of anesthesiology, were inducted as fellows into the prestigious American College of Critical Care Medicine, which was established by the society in 1988.
Fath and Papadimos were chosen because they have helped develop programs and made educational contributions to critical care medicine and assumed leadership roles in professional critical-care medicine organizations. As fellows, they will review research proposals, review and establish practice guidelines, serve on committees and present research in critical care. More than 700 people have been named fellows since 1988.
Nine-six fourth-year pharmacy students presented seminars held this spring and last fall on Main Campus.
The one-hour continuing education presentations on current pharmacy practice topics served as a capstone for a seminar titled "Pharmacotherapy Advances and Controversies," coordinated by Dr. Eric Sahloff, assistant professor of pharmacy practice.
During the seminars, students demonstrated their ability to evaluate the literature about drugs and their speaking skills.
"The experience allows students to document their competencies in literature searching, literature evaluation, application of evidence-based medicine and verbal presentations," said Sahloff. "Some students have so presented data from research projects they assisted or developed themselves."
The students' 40-to 50-minute presentations covered such topics as antibiotic cycling to prevent antimicrobial resistance in the ICU and use of a drug, dexrazoxane, to treat anthracycline extravasation, a feared complication of chemotherapy that, if left untreated, can progress to necrosis.
The presentations were followed by questions and answers from an audience of students, faculty and practitioners.
"The students make a contribution to the pharmacy community of northwest Ohio through their investigations and subsequent presentations and provide a value-added service of free continuing education opportunities for licensed pharmacists in the area," noted Sahloff. "The programs also provide a networking opportunity among students, local practitioners and future employers."
University of Toledo students will receive scholarships from two programs funded by the Ohio Board of Regents' Choose Ohio First program, an initiative aimed at increasing economic growth in the state by attracting and graduating Ohio students majoring in STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- and medical fields.
UT, some 20 other public and private Ohio universities and colleges, three major teaching hospitals, the Ohio Supercomputer Center , Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and several other scientific organizations in the "Ohio Consortium for Bioinformatics" will receive $4.475 million for student scholarships to attract and graduate an estimated 345 students in the STEM field over a five-year period. Of that amount, UT will receive more than $300,000 for scholarships. Ohio University spearheads the consortium.
Bioinformatics, a key research tool, involves use of computers to analyze biological information.
In addition, the UT College of Pharmacy will work with the lead institution, Ursuline College, a small, private, Catholic liberal-arts college in Pepper Pike, Ohio, near Cleveland; the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Cleveland Veteran Affairs Medical Center to attract and graduate more than 45 new students to the much-needed STEM area of pharmacy. Some $364,000 in scholarship funds will be available.
The state's higher education institutions last January submitted 28 proposals seeking funding in the highly competitive first round of Choose Ohio First Scholarship funds, and seven shared a total $22.7 million in awards. A seven-member panel of nationally recognized STEM educational experts appointed by Board of Regents Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut reviewed the proposals.
The regents announced first-round state grant winners March 7.
The Ohio General Assembly established the $50 million scholarship program last June to attract, retain and graduate more than 2,000 new students to the fields of science, technology, engineering, math and medical fields and STEM education.
According to Dr. Robert Blumenthal, professor of medical microbiology and immunology, and director of UT's bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics program, UT will annually recruit eight students into the two-year program for five years and also help develop a statewide bioinformatics curriculum that will be offered at participating institutions. UT will host in June the third Annual Ohio Collaborative Conference on Bioinformatics.
Blumenthal said graduates with degrees combining bioinformatics with fields such as molecular biology, chemistry, microbiology and computer science will continue to be in demand.
Scientists increasingly relay on bioinformatics for computer modeling and analysis of huge piles of data to understand and develop treatments for human diseases.
Dr. Christine N. Hinko, professor of pharmacology and associate dean for student affairs, said the pharmacy proposal is aimed at addressing an expected shortage of pharmacy professionals in the state by attracting potential pharmacy students to the bachelor of science in pharmaceutical sciences (BSPS) and doctor of pharmacy (PharmD.) programs offered in a collaborative effort between Ursuline and the College of Pharmacy.
UT and Ursuline two years ago entered into an accord that allows students interested in a BSPS or PharmD. professional degree to take the first two years of the pre-professional curriculum at Ursuline taught by Ursuline faculty with pharmacy-specific classes taught by UT pharmacy faculty. Students then apply to complete their professional training at UT. In the last year of the PharmD. program, they can return to Cleveland for advanced pharmacy practice experiences at institutional and community settings.
The proposal includes recruitment initiatives to get high school students interested in pharmacy careers, including a summer "pharmacy camp" for students on the Ursuline campus and a mentoring program. The camp introduces pharmacy-related career and educational opportunities and hands-on training in research and pharmacy-practice skills.
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Cleveland VA Medical Center in Brecksville are supporting the program that targets first-generation college students and students from under-represented groups in the sciences, who will receive mentoring.
In some parts of the Ohio, the demand for pharmacists far outstrips supply, Hinko said. And with baby boomers aging, even more pharmacists will be required in the state and nationwide.
Managing diabetes can be an uphill task for many patients.
The disease, in which the body doesn't make enough insulin or use it efficiently to reduce the level of sugar in the blood, requires constant monitoring, and controlling it through diet and exercise. Sometimes medication is also required.
People who fail to control their blood-sugar levels put themselves at much higher risk of diabetes complications such as heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, amputations and blindness.
Now, thanks to a $25,000 seed grant from the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH), some Toledo and northwest Ohio residents are getting help.
The FrontPath Health Coalition, through its non-profit, Perrysburg-based Western Lake Erie Health Quality Initiative, received the award to fund a one-year diabetes-management program for City of Toledo employees and their families who have been diagnosed with or are currently taking medication for Type II diabetes. FrontPath was one of 14 business health coalitions nationwide to receive funding.
Participants will work with one of several designated pharmacies in managing their diabetes during the year, and The University of Toledo's Pharmaceutical Care and Outcomes Research Laboratory in the College of Pharmacy will collect data and analyze benefits of the program.
Enrollment is limited to 150 city of Toledo employees and their dependents.
The program is patterned after the "Asheville Project." The city of Asheville, N.C., contracted with pharmacists in 1996 to help manage city employees' chronic conditions and make sure they were taking their medications properly. Not only did employees' quality of care improve but within a year employee health-care costs dropped.
"We're thrilled to have received this funding," said Susan E. Szymanski, FrontPath CEO. "This program was developed by The Pharmacy Counter, and is modeled after the very successful �Asheville Project,' a pharmacy-coordinated patient self-management program. As a result of this medication-therapy management program, the patient becomes more educated, more interested and more empowered to better manage their own health."
"The University of Toledo is dedicated to improving the human condition," said UT President Lloyd Jacobs. "By lending our academic expertise to this project, we will be able to maximize the return on investment and help more of our citizenry understand and manage their diabetes."
Program participants will contact a member of the Coalition of Toledo Area Independent Pharmacies, including The Pharmacy Counter, Erie Drug, Glenbyrne Pharmacy, Ryan Pharmacy and Kahler Pharmacy. During visits, the pharmacists will act as educators and motivators, ensuring patients follow their physicians' orders and understand how to manage and monitor their diabetes and medications. The clinical pharmacists also will work with patients' physicians and specialists.
To measure the program's impact, Dr. Sharrel Pinto, UT assistant professor of pharmacy, will direct a team of pharmacy undergraduate and graduate students that will evaluate economic, clinical and quality of life-related outcomes and suggest ways to improve the delivery and quality of care for patients with such chronic conditions.
"More than one-third of the U.S. adult population has diabetes or is well on their way to getting it," said Andrew Webber, president and CEO of NBCH. "Diabetes care is expensive, and if we can improve the quality of that care, we can reduce the cost to businesses and enrich the quality of life for employees."
Dr. Curtis D. Black, Merck Professor of Clinical Pharmacy in the Department of Pharmacy Practice in the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy, has been elected vice chair of the Toledo Community Hospital Oncology Program's (TCHOP) Institutional Review Board.
TCHOP is a clinical research program sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that allows community hospitals and physicians to be involved in cancer clinical trials of new procedures and drugs and to bring the benefits of clinical research to patients in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.
Black, who joined the faculty in May 1990, will help to review and to monitor the ethics, benefits and safety of cancer-research protocols involving human subjects at 13 TCHOP-member institutions and six private oncology offices. Currently, 49 physicians from medical and radiation oncology, general surgery, pathology, thoracic surgery and urology and 90 oncology nurses and clinical research assistants participate.
"I'm delighted to see the strong involvement of faculty members like Dr. Black on important decision-making community boards and working to improve the quality of health care for Toledo and northwest Ohio," said Dr. Johnnie Early II, College of Pharmacy professor and dean. "Community engagement and outreach has always been an important hallmark of the College of Pharmacy."
The Toledo Community Hospital Oncology Program, one of 27 clinical research programs across the country that has been continuously funded since 1983, is a member of several large collaborative cancer research groups, including the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG).
Black, who earned his B.S. in pharmacy degree from UT in 1974 and spent 12 years on the faculty at Purdue University before joining the UT faculty in 1990, has focused on collaborative research, teaching and practice during his career at UT. Black and Dr. Richard Hudson, a professor of medicinal chemistry, has developed a three-part monograph on biotechnology and its implications for pharmacy practice, a model that is used as a course resource in pharmacy colleges throughout the United States.
Dr. Black also has spent 17 years as a member of American Council on Pharmaceutical Education-sponsored accreditation teams for professional programs in pharmacy.
Recipient of two College of Pharmacy Outstanding Teacher awards and an Outstanding University Teacher Award in 1997, Black has also served as local chapter president of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society; and as Indiana Nutrition Council president.
He was selected as a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Toledo in 1997 and of Purdue University in 2002 and received the 2007 Keys Award of the Ohio Pharmacists Association for outstanding contributions to the association.
by Heather Van Doren
On April 3, 2007, leaders from The University of Toledo (UT) College of Pharmacy and The University of Szeged (US) Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry signed a partnership agreement enhancing a long-standing sister university relationship between UT and SU.
The partnership features a faculty exchange program, research and funding activities, opportunities for undergraduate and graduate student exchanges, and clerkship/practicum experiences offered at both universities.
According to Dean Johnnie L. Early, II, PhD, RPh, "We have worked toward this partnership for some time to ensure that it provides opportunities at various levels within our programs, benefiting both students and faculty."
The signing ceremony held on the UT campus was part of a five-day visit by a five-member delegation from SU: Dr. Ferenc Flp, Dean and Professor; Dr. Gyorgy Falkay, Pro-Dean and Professor; Dr. Piroska Revesz, Vice Dean; Dr. Ildiko Csoka, Associate Professor; and Dr. Gyongyver Soos, Associate Professor.
Highlights of their visit included trips to area pharmacies, campus seminars, and such attractions as the Toledo Museum of Art and Tony Packos. At an April 1 welcome reception at the Hilton, Representative Peter Ujvagi presented each visitor with a proclamation from the Ohio House of Representatives "in recognition of the delegation and the agreement with The University of Toledo."
In his thank you speech, Dr. Ferenc Flp, SU's Dean, said, "Why did we select Toledo? It was your faculty. The faculty of your college is famous to us."
Following the signing ceremony, the group enjoyed a reception and dinner at The Hungarian Club of Toledo, hosted by the Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development (a collaborative effort of Bowling Green State University, Lourdes College, The University of Toledo and WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc.), The Toledo-Szeged Committee, and The Hungarian Club of Toledo.
Experts from the Professional Compounding Centers of America (PCCA) put University of Toledo (UT) College of Pharmacy students through 36 hours of weekend training at Pharmacy Boot Camp in January.
UT students prepared lip balm, lollipops, gels, effervescent powder and capsules. According to Dr. Curtis Black, Merck Professor of Pharmacy Practice at UT, "the Boot Camp provides students with additional hands-on practice in preparing dosage forms for patients."
PCCA trainers Renee Prescott and Chris Barnett visited UT with what Dr. Black described as "curriculum in a kit." A wide array of state-of-the-art education technology allowed the presenters to offer extensive lecture and laboratory activities throughout the Boot Camp.
"This was a creative way to complement UT's own program, which offers a strong compounding component." Dr. Black said. "PCCA's Boot Camp is a fun educational tool to enhance what our students are learning and experiencing."
The University of Toledo College of Pharmacy has a national reputation for training well-prepared pharmacists. The College enjoys more than a 90 percent on-time graduation rate and a 100 percent placement rate for its graduates. The College offers bachelor's degrees in pharmaceutical sciences with majors in medicinal chemistry, pharmacology/toxicology, pharmacy and health care management and pharmaceutics as well as master's degrees, the PharmD and residency and fellowship training.
To address northwest Ohio's pharmacist shortage and make a direct and positive economic impact, The University of Toledo College of Pharmacy (UTCP) has teamed with Owens Community College and will accept up to 30 students in fall 2008 for a new pre-pharmacy program. The partnership signing will take place on Thursday, January 11 at 11 a.m. in Wolfe Hall 1267 on the UT campus.
According to UTCP Dean Johnnie L. Early, II, RPh, Ph.D, "Partnership between the two colleges represents an exciting outreach endeavor which creates a stronger presence in northwest Ohio, promotes collaboration among the faculty of both dynamic institutions, and provides students with expanded academic opportunities in the pharmaceutical sciences."
Recent studies show that, by 2020, Ohio will experience a shortage of 14,000 pharmacists and, nationally, the shortage will exceed 150,000.
"This partnership gives Owens Community College an opportunity to help meet a specific community need for pharmacists," said Owens Vice President for Academic Services Bruce Busby, Ph.D.
Specifics re: dual enrollment/details of program...
The University of Toledo College of Pharmacy has a national reputation for training well-prepared pharmacists. The College enjoys more than a 90 percent on-time graduation rate and a 100 percent placement rate for its graduates. The College offers bachelor's degrees in pharmaceutical sciences with majors in medicinal chemistry, pharmacology/toxicology, pharmacy and health care management and pharmaceutics as well as master's degrees, the PharmD and residency and fellowship training.