Patrick Brown, Pharm.D., has been named clinical programs coordinator for Mutual Drug in a shared position with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. In this position, he will be responsible for establishing the Mutual Clinical Network and connecting it to research and educational support at UNC. Additionally, he will serve as the co-director of the School’s independent pharmacy ownership residency program, launched in partnership between the School, Mutual and the National Community Pharmacists Association.
Brown said his position formalizes a long-standing relationship between the School and Mutual, a cooperatively owned wholesaler for independent pharmacies that is interested in starting a network that goes beyond traditional patient care. He will be a Mutual employee spending about 75 percent of his time at Mutual.
As assistant professor of clinical education at the School, Brown said his efforts will include building the link between the two partners, while his primary duties with Mutual will be establishing the clinical network and serving as the primary contact and co-director of the residency program.
“The School and Mutual were the first two partners to discuss establishing the residency program with the goal of training pharmacy owners, so people who get out of school and know the pharmacy side of it can then learn how to run a business,” he said.
The 12-month ownership residency program is for pharmacists interested in becoming independent community pharmacy owners. The residency will launch on July 1, 2016, with two independently owned community pharmacies in North Carolina: Drugco Discount Pharmacy in Roanoke Rapids and Central Pharmacy in Durham. Brown said that as co-directors, he and Clinical Associate Professor Stefanie Ferreri, Pharm.D., are working to grow the program both within North Carolina and to establish it at a national level.
Brown said the collaboration reflects Mutual’s interest of building a clinical network of pharmacies that provide more patient care and go beyond what people think a pharmacy can do.
“Research support for the Mutual Clinical Network is a priority, which is something we’re working to establish,” he said. “Our long-term goal is that teams from UNC will come in and evaluate the work that is being done by pharmacies in the clinical network, specifically the outcomes from these services. We have a real opportunity to prove the value that community pharmacists bring to the healthcare team, and I’m thrilled for this opportunity.”
After receiving his Doctor of Pharmacy from UNC in 2013, Brown completed a PGY1 community pharmacy residency with UNC and Moose Pharmacy in Concord, North Carolina. He recently completed a practice innovations fellowship at UNC, where his primary responsibilities were working with the UNC team on the Community Care of North Carolina CMMI award, establishing the independent pharmacy ownership residency and special projects with the Center for Medication Optimization through Practice and Policy.