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Washington State University
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Doctor of Pharmacy

WSU faculty, students participate in active shooter exercise at Valley Mall

SPOKANE, Wash. – Pharmacy professors and students from Washington State University recently trained with Spokane Valley emergency response teams at a large shopping mall and provided teams with a high-fidelity manikin victim.

The mock incident at the Spokane Valley Mall involved two shooters inside the mall, hundreds of innocent people and a few casualties. It was staged between midnight and 8 a.m. on a weekend.

The three professors and two students used the manikin to stage a victim hit by bullets and bleeding.  The manikin “victim” was a male in his early 20s who was then evaluated by emergency responders, carried out of the mall … » More …

Community pharmacy, residencies take majority of class of 2013 pharmacy graduates

SPOKANE – In a survey two weeks before their spring commencement, 75 percent of the students graduating with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Washington State University said they had accepted jobs or post-graduation residencies, and a majority of the students said they intend to stay in Washington state.

There were 54 students who said they had jobs as a pharmacist, with 38 of those jobs at chain store pharmacies and another three at independent community pharmacies.  Four of the employed were going into hospital pharmacy, one was headed to the pharmaceutical industry, three were going to work in clinics, one was going to long-term … » More …

College of Pharmacy Students Score Well On National Exam

SPOKANE, Wash. – Thirteen Doctor of Pharmacy students at Washington State University scored in the 90th percentile or higher on a national curriculum assessment exam administered recently by the National Boards of Pharmacy.

The students are in their third-year of the four-year pharmacy program at WSU and were among 1,843  pharmacy students nationally who took the exam. A score in the 90th percentile means the student scored at or higher than 90% of the examinees.

“The Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment exam is an independent, objective, external measure of student performance in US pharmacy curricula,” said Brenda Bray, assessment director at the WSU College of Pharmacy … » More …

Pharmacy students compare diabetes management smartphone apps

Pharmacy Professor John R. White and students Joseph Tran and Rosanna Tran at the College of Pharmacy recently conducted a consumer-style review of smartphone applications for diabetes management that has been published in the professional journal Clinical Diabetes.

Similar to the products reviews found in Consumer Reports magazine – but without the rankings list of best to worst – the students, and the professor whose help they enlisted, reviewed 10 smartphone apps for price and 19 different features such as usability, glucose tracking, carbohydrate tracking, and electronic synchronizing with the patient’s health care provider.

“Apps such as Diabetes Log, which is free in the Apple … » More …

Pharmacy careers subject of new seminar series

SPOKANE, Wash. – The CEO of the American Pharmacists Association will participate in a new career seminar series at the WSU College of Pharmacy examining the changing role of pharmacists.
In addition to providing career information and access to leaders in the profession, the new series will give student pharmacists a chance to participate in discussions about the direction of the profession in the future, said Linda Garrelts MacLean, associate dean for professional education and outreach.
“The discussions may spark an interest in some students to become leaders in the continuing evolution of the profession,” MacLean said. The college created the series to … » More …

Pharmacy appoints ombudsman for students

Associate Professor Mark W. Garrison has been appointed to the new position of “Ombudsman for Students” in the College of Pharmacy, effective immediately.
In his new role, Garrison will serve as an additional resource for our students, allowing the College to separate student support on administrative issues from student support on academic issues, such as advising.
“Mark will provide support and advice to students who need a trusted and impartial intermediary to whom they can voice their concerns,” College Dean Gary M. Pollack said in announcing the appointment.
Garrison said, “With the continuing consolidation of the College to the Spokane campus, our … » More …

Telephone coaching tried on diabetes patients living in rural areas

phone coaches
Would it improve the health of diabetes patients in rural areas if student pharmacists telephoned them weekly and used motivational interviewing techniques in their conversations? And what kind of impact would the telephone calls have on the students?

Those are questions faculty in the WSU College of Pharmacy and WSU Extension are trying to answer.

Ten pharmacy students voluntarily trained to be telephone coaches and then each called four to five patients a week for eight consecutive weeks.

The students just completed the telephoning phase of the project. All calls were recorded and … » More …

APhA recognizes Helm as pharmacy advocate

Photo of Andrew HelmPharmacy student Andrew M. Helm will receive an award from the American Pharmacists Association for his extensive work in political arenas on behalf of pharmacy.

Helm will be presented with APhA’s 2011 Good Government Student Pharmacist-of-the-Year award at the organization’s annual meeting in March.

Helm’s activities include expanding Washington state’s Pharmacy Legislative Day to include meetings with legislators in addition to the usual health fair ; recruiting and training other students in legislative advocacy; serving as president of the student council of the National Community Pharmacists Association, and completing rotations with NCPA and … » More …

WSU student leading NCPA council

Photo of Andrew HelmGovernment legislation and regulation is the focus Andrew Helm has selected for his year-long term as president of the student council of the National Community Pharmacists Association.
Helm is in the WSU pharmacy class of 2011 and was installed to his new position in May 2010.

Helm has training and experience in talking with legislators and believes the political arena is one way to bring about necessary changes in pharmacy’s role in healthcare. He attended “boot camp” by the Washington Student Lobby before tackling a leadership role in February 2009 at the … » More …