Tampa, FL -- The Florida Board of Governors approved a proposal to establish a four-year Doctor of Pharmacy Degree (PharmD) Program at the University of South Florida. The approval means that USF Health can begin planning the four-year professional degree program, housed under the auspices of the USF College of Medicine.
The university expects to apply to the Florida Legislature for program funding by 2011, so that its first PharmD class could be admitted later that year.
“The Board was insightful in recognizing the long-term, critical healthcare need for more pharmacists to serve the citizens of Florida,” said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine.
“As an added value, these Doctor of Pharmacy graduates will be top wage-earning professionals – a highly educated workforce that will contribute to our state’s economic development, particularly here in the greater Tampa Bay region.”
Florida is positioned at the high end of the 20-percent national shortage of pharmacists, said Kevin Sneed, PharmD, clinical director and assistant dean of the USF Division of Clinical Pharmacy.
“Beginning in 2011, the first wave of baby boomers will begin enrolling in Medicare. Many will require medication therapy as part of their health care, and the state’s demand for pharmacists is expected to grow substantially,” said Dr. Sneed, an associate professor in the USF Department of Family Medicine.
“We are building a rigorous, patient-centered program that will focus on the needs of this aging population while preparing pharmacists to be innovative healthcare leaders.”
Since pharmaceuticals touch on virtually all aspects of health care, the full-service pharmacy program will emphasize interdisciplinary collaborations that will draw on faculty and other resources from USF Health’s colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health and provide opportunities for collaborative teaching and research.
Pharmacy students will receive their clinical training at USF-affiliated teaching hospitals across the Tampa Bay region, most of which have pharmacy residency programs, and at outpatient sites, including the Centers for Advanced Healthcare on USF Health’s north and south campuses.
The program will emphasize clinical research between the PharmD program and other USF doctoral and master’s programs. Dr. Sneed said he expects the USF Doctor of Pharmacy Program to enroll as many as 50 students in its first class if funding is approved.
The accreditation application process would begin in summer 2010, he said.
