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Pharmacy doctorate now closer to home
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN SEMINOLE -- Christina Ker Young didn't want to be separated from her husband. Michelle Teal didn't want to leave her parents. And Jimmy Fite didn't want to have to quit his job. They won't now that the University of Florida is offering its four-year doctor of pharmacy degree through St. Petersburg College. The three students are part of the College of Pharmacy's first off-campus class, which means they'll be able to earn their degree without ever having to visit the university in Gainesville. "I'm crazy about this thing," said Fite, one of 44 students enrolled in the course, which is being offered at SPC's Seminole campus. The 20-year-old pharmacy technician will commute from his home in Plant City to SPC's campus on 113th Street. The university has been offering a three-year on-line program for practicing pharmacists seeking a doctoral degree. The program has grown from 18 students in Tampa in 1994 to 550 pupils across the country today. But the course that began Monday is for students just beginning their education in pharmacy. The distance course, part of a pioneer program for pharmaceutical education, is the first of its kind in the country. "This is something that we dreamed about and worked on for about a year," said William Riffee, UF's associate provost for distance, continuing and executive education and dean of the College of Pharmacy. "I have to tell you we're being watched nationwide." University of Florida officials hope the move will help offset the growing demand for pharmacists. Enrollment at the Gainesville campus is limited to 131 first-year pharmacy students. By forming an alliance with SPC's University Partnership Center, UF hopes to double the number of graduates beginning in 2006. Peter Vlasses, Pharm.D., executive director of the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education, the national agency for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy, is encouraged by UF's innovation to reach students who otherwise would be unable to study pharmacy. "We do believe there are populations of students who would be willing to consider a pharmacy education in this type of setting," he said. "Some people for all kinds of reasons are geographically bound to a particular area and going to the main campus can be a hardship." In addition to SPC, UF's College of Pharmacy also is offering its four-year program at the school's locations in Jacksonville and Orlando. Forty-one students are enrolled in the program in Jacksonville and 64 students are taking classes in Orlando. "The demand for qualified pharmacists is not going to diminish," Riffee said. "Demographics show it is only going to continue." The number of unfilled full- and part-time drug store pharmacist positions across the country rose from 2,700 in January 1998 to nearly 7,000 in January 2000, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released in December 2000. The educational program will be the same as on the Gainesville campus, including examinations, classification for professional years and monthlong rotations in the fourth year. Students will access the course material using compact discs and streaming video containing faculty presentations. They will read study guides on the college's Web site and will communicate with professors through videoconferencing and e-mail. During class meetings with site facilitators, students will participate in discussions and review sessions, present group projects, complete laboratory assignments and take examinations. Some of the students will use computers donated by Eckerd Corporation, which donated $50,000 of computer equipment to the University Partnership Center's pharmacy program. An associate's degree is required for the program, although most of the 44 students at the Seminole campus already have bachelor's degrees. Many currently work as pharmacy technicians. For various personal and professional reasons, they don't want to have to leave their homes to pursue a doctorate in pharmacy. Michelle Teal, 20, was planning to move away to become a pharmacist. The 20-year-old Clearwater High graduate was accepted at Mercer University in Atlanta but didn't want to leave her parents because of a recent death in her family. "I decided to stay home because of the circumstances," she said Friday during an orientation for the students. Christina Ker Young, 22, was tired of being miles away from her new husband. Last year he moved to Clearwater for work, but Ms. Young stayed in Wisconsin until May to finish college. The last thing she wanted to do was leave her husband again by moving to Gainesville to attend UF's College of Pharmacy. Now she won't have to. "The University of Florida pharmacy program gives the residents of Tampa Bay an opportunity to receive pharmacy degrees from a top-rated program without leaving their home area," said Lars Hafner, associate vice president in charge of the University Partnership Center. The University Partnership Center started in 1999 with a nursing program offered by Florida State University. Since then the center has established partnerships with 14 Florida universities offering 36 bachelor degrees and 16 graduate degrees.
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