Plans For North Texas Region's First School Of Pharmacy - University Of Dallas Announces

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Also Included In: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 18 Nov 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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The University of Dallas (UD) announced today its plans to develop North Texas' first professional doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree program. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S., is the largest market in the country without an academic pharmacy program. The University expects to enroll its first class of 75 students in 2011.

To spearhead this effort, the University has named renowned health sciences administrator and educator Dr. George E. MacKinnon III as founding dean and professor. Over the past 18 years, he has held joint academic appointments in medicine and pharmacy at various educational institutions engaging in clinical practice, research, teaching, and academic administration. Dr. MacKinnon previously held leadership roles in the establishment and accreditation of two new schools of pharmacy in the Chicago and Phoenix areas, as well as conducted feasibility studies for pharmacy schools at other universities. In addition, he has delivered more than 200 presentations, written more than 60 publications and authored three book chapters in the pharmacy and the health sciences arenas.

There is a critical need to expand pharmacy programs in the U.S.: there are currently 95,000 applicants for only 10,000 first-year enrollment spots at pharmacy schools. In Texas, the Texas Workforce Commission estimates that the state needs 855 new pharmacists annually, yet Texas' six pharmacy schools combined currently only produce 650 graduates each year.

Other factors in the shortage of pharmacists include the increased role of pharmaceuticals as the leading course of medical intervention and the expansion of pharmacy services in retail outlets and hospital settings nationwide. In addition, licensed pharmacists are increasingly taking positions in other settings, such as long-term care facilities, prescription benefit management companies, clinical research appointments, pharmaceutical companies, governmental agencies and mail-order distribution companies.

The University of Dallas is a Catholic, co-educational, liberal arts university with more than 3,000 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs through the Constantin College of Liberal Arts, the College of Business, the Graduate School of Management, the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts, and the School of Ministry. The University of Dallas has its main campus in Irving, Texas. For more information, go to http://www.udallas.edu.

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