(June 26, 2007) – The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) awarded SCCP Candidate status, which means that it has passed a critical second step in an accreditation three-step process. Achieving candidate status provides graduates the same rights and privileges as those from a program that has completed the accreditation process. The final accreditation step will occur after the first class of students graduates in 2010. “This is an important step for the college,” said Joseph DiPiro, PharmD, |
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SCCP Executive Dean. “It means that our graduates can become licensed pharmacists when they graduate. It shows that ACPE, the accreditation agency, believes that we can meet all the standards for the doctor of pharmacy program. Our faculty, staff and students have worked very hard to achieve this.” SCCP, which combines the MUSC and University of South Carolina colleges of pharmacy, had to undergo accreditation as a new program when the colleges merged. MUSC and USC have existing accredited programs that will graduate classes in 2008 and 2009. Currently, SCCP has 380 students enrolled between MUSC and USC campuses.
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Alyson Gibson, a fourth year student in the USC College of Pharmacy, won first place in the biomedical sciences section of Discovery Day at the University of South Carolina for her poster presentation, Physical Compatibility of Various Concentrated Intravenous Drugs with Neonatal Total Parenteral Solution. Her research project also won a Magellan Scholar Award from the Office of Undergraduate Research at USC and the results were presented at the ASHP Mid-year Clinical Meeting and Seminars in December. Discovery Day includes presentations by undergraduate researchers across disciplines of the University and is sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research at USC.
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Dr. Randall C. Rowen has been named University of South Carolina campus dean for the South Carolina College of Pharmacy. Rowen, who has been interim campus dean since January 2006, will be responsible for day-to-day operations, including research, budget, student services and curriculum, on the Columbia campus of the SCCP, which comprises pharmacy programs at the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina. He will report to Dr. Joseph DiPiro, executive dean of the SCCP. “We are very fortunate to have Dr. Rowen accept this position,” DiPiro said. “He is a progressive thinker and a high-energy individual who is respected by students, faculty, staff and alumni. He has had an integral role in the advances of the college over the past few years, and he will be a solid leader for the years ahead.” University President Andrew Sorensen said Rowen’s appointment is key to the future of the SCCP, which plans to expand pharmacy education to the Upstate. “Dr. Rowen brings valuable teaching, clinical, administrative and research experience to this job,” Sorensen said. “His leadership is vital in our efforts to expand pharmacy education statewide and train the future pharmacy professionals who will serve the people of the Palmetto State.” Rowen, who joined the university’s faculty in 1984, brings more than 13 years of leadership experience to the deanship. He was chair of the department of pharmacy practice and outcomes sciences for the university and director of pharmacy for the James F. Byrnes Center for Geriatric Medicine, Education and Research from 1994 - 98. A clinical pharmacist with more than 25 years of experience, Rowen is a consultant for many healthcare organizations in South Carolina. His areas of professional expertise and scholarship include clinical pharmacy services, medication use in the elderly, cardiovascular pharmacology, and polypharmacy. He has given more than 400 professional presentations and is involved with many state and national professional organizations. He earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1978 and a Pharm.D. degree in 1985 from Northeastern University The College of Pharmacy at the University of South Carolina was established in 1865. It has nearly 400 students in the pre-pharmacy department and 330 students in the Pharm.D. program. In addition to the Pharm.D. degree, the college offers a Ph.D. program in pharmaceutical sciences and pharmaceutical health outcomes sciences. The college also is home to the Palmetto Poison Center, which answers nearly 30,000 calls annually from the public, doctors and healthcare professionals on accidental poisonings.
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Recently announced rankings for National Institutes of Health funding place the South Carolina College of Pharmacy (SCCP) in the top quartile for pharmacy schools. The SCCP ranked 23 of out approximately 100 colleges of pharmacy, with just under $4 million in NIH funding.
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The South Carolina College of Pharmacy was recently awarded a $1,979,760 grant by the SC Department of Health and Human Services to implement an educational outreach program to improve the drug therapy regimens of those Medicaid beneficiaries diagnosed with mental health disorders, HIV/AIDS, or cancer. The program involves close collaboration of the two state agencies by combining resources to improve the healthcare of South Carolina Medicaid beneficiaries. The two year academic detailing initiative will employ a team of clinical pharmacist educators who will develop professional relationships with targeted physicians to encourage best practices to promote quality, evidence-based and cost-effective drug therapy in Medicaid beneficiaries. The clinical pharmacist educators will provide written and oral information relevant to drugs used to treat the target Medicaid patient groups. The purpose of this initiative is to facilitate prescribing clinically appropriate, cost-effective medications and limit usage of high cost or less safe alternative medicines. The approach will be patient-centered and address resource utilization and health outcomes in addition to appropriate use of medications.
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