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College of Pharmacy

HelixTalk Episode #100 - Evolution or Revolution? The Future of Pharmacy and Pharmacy Education

Date posted: August 20, 2019, 6:00 am

We are proud to announce our 100th HelixTalk episode! In celebration, we sit down with Dr. Marc Abel, the Dean of the College of Pharmacy at RFUMS to discuss the profession of pharmacy and the future of pharmacy education.

Key Concepts

  1. Over the past five years, the number of applicants to pharmacy schools has declined by about 32%, the number of graduates has increased by 11%, and there have been 18 new pharmacy schools.
  2. PGY1 and PGY2 pharmacy residencies have steadily grown over the past several years; an increasing number of graduates are pursuing and matching to these residencies.
  3. The role and opportunities of the clinical pharmacist continues to expand.  Clinical pharmacists are able to work in interprofessional teams to reduce costs and make drug therapy more effective and safe.
  4. Pharmacy schools are beginning to focus more on emerging fields in pharmacy such as pharmacogenomics and informatics.  These topics are being integrated into curricula or offered as dual degree or certificate programs to help prepare graduates for the future of the pharmacy profession.