July 12, 2010
The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will begin enrolling students in a new satellite pharmacy-education program based at the University of North Carolina Asheville in the fall of 2011.
“The past two months have been exciting for the School as we have pushed ahead with our plans for expanding our pharmacy-education program,” said Robert Blouin, PharmD, dean of the School. “We are now far enough along in our preparations that we can confirm that UNC-Chapel Hill pharmacy students in Chapel Hill and Elizabeth City will be joined by a new group in Asheville next fall.”
Kevin Almond, the School’s associate dean for advancement, will oversee the new program in Asheville as interim executive associate dean. Almond is a 1983 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and a licensed pharmacist. He has been with the School for nineteen years.
In April, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors approved the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s plans to bring its doctor of pharmacy program to Asheville, which will be an expansion of the successful partnership the School has had with Elizabeth City State University since 2005. The Elizabeth City partnership program graduated its second class in May.
“Chapel Hill’s pharmacy program at UNC Asheville is a tremendous example of how UNC institutions working together can benefit our students, our region and the economic future of North Carolina,” said UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder.
Asheville was considered the natural choice for locating a second satellite pharmacy program because of the close working partnership between the UNC Asheville, Mission Health System, and UNC-Chapel Hill. The satellite program in Asheville, like its counterpart in Elizabeth City, will educate more pharmacists in an area of North Carolina that doesn’t have enough health-care providers in general.
“We are delighted with the speed with which this expansion is moving forward,” said Dale Fell, MD, vice president and chief medical officer of Mission Health System. “Given the shortage of pharmacists in the eighteen western North Carolina counties, it can’t come soon enough.”
The UNC Eshleman School of Pharmacy recognized the need for more health-care practitioners in Western North Carolina and made expansion into the area part of its strategic plan five years ago, Blouin said. The satellite program could enroll up to forty doctor of pharmacy students a year. The doctor of pharmacy, or PharmD is the professional degree required to practice as a pharmacist.
Students interested in enrolling in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy PharmD program must apply through PharmCAS, a centralized application service. They must also complete a supplemental application available through the School’s Web site. The deadline for applications is November 1.
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