Efforts Seek To Address Asthma, Encourage Students To Become Pharmacists In Minority Community

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• Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Asthma Partnership will award a total of $35,000 to community-based and not-for-profit groups that work to address asthma in the community, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. The partnership seeks to "develop and implement a collaborative, sustainable statewide asthma plan that expands and improves the quality of asthma care," according to the Tribune-Review. The project also seeks to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities among low-income Pennsylvania residents with asthma. Organizations will be awarded up to $5,000 each for one year. Eligible groups must cover at least one goal from the 2006 Pennsylvania Asthma Action Plan and submit proposals by Aug. 1 (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 7/13).
  
  
• St. Louis: Walgreen and the St. Louis College of Pharmacy are sponsoring the Career Explorers Program, which aims to encourage minority high school students to seek careers in pharmacy education and other positions, the AP/Columbia Tribune reports. According to the Institute of Medicine, minorities are more likely to work in minority communities and have a greater awareness of the group's needs. Twenty-five students were chosen for the hands-on learning program, where for four weeks during the summer students learn the basics of mixing ingredients for medications and fill mock prescriptions for celebrity patients. The students get a $1,200 stipend upon completion of the program. According to the AP/Tribune, since the program began eight years ago, at least 10 former participants are working as technicians or pharmacists at local Walgreens stores. More than half of the 175 students who have participated in the program have gone to pharmacy school (AP/Columbia Tribune, 7/15).