Aug. 23, 2013 | The Class of 2017 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy took their first steps toward becoming pharmacists at an Aug. 23 white coat ceremony. This was the 10^th white coat ceremony at the College, since the tradition was started in 2003.

More than 500 family members, friends and faculty witnessed the 121 incoming students in the College of Pharmacy receive their white coats, which symbolize their commitment to the profession of pharmacy, their chosen field of study.

The College of Pharmacy’s white coat ceremony has been held since 2003 to recognize students’ transition into the life of a student-pharmacist.

Stephanie F. Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., College of Pharmacy dean, explained the components of the Oath of a Student Pharmacist, taken by students later in the ceremony, and the high level of credentials the incoming class holds.

The average grade point average of the incoming class was 3.51 and the average Pharmacy School Admittance Test score was 71. Seventy-four students have undergraduate degrees, three have master’s degrees and one student holds a doctoral degree. Of the 121 first-year students, 105 are from Arkansas and the other 16 are from Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri and Texas.

LITTLE ROCK – The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) named Jeanne Heard, M.D., Ph.D., provost and Stephanie F. Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., associate provost as part of a leadership restructure to better serve the state.

In addition to her current role as chief academic officer, as provost Heard will work closely with deans of UAMS colleges on faculty affairs and college-level budgets. As associate provost for society and health, Gardner, dean of the UAMS College of Pharmacy, will work across all colleges to ensure that UAMS is educating and training health professionals to meet changing health needs and to develop interprofessional and community-based educational experiences like the UAMS 12th Street Health and Wellness Center, which opened in January.

“As we step back and consider ways in which we can restructure our organization to best serve the people of our state, we are grateful to have talented leadership already in place who are willing to take on additional responsibilities to help us move forward with our mission,” said UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D. “I am grateful to Dr. Heard and Dr. Gardner for their willingness to do this for the benefit of UAMS and all Arkansans.”

Heard, a former associate dean for graduate medical education and professor of internal medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine, returned to UAMS in 2010 from Chicago, where she helped lead the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education for seven years.

Gardner has been dean of the UAMS College of Pharmacy since 2004. Before that she served as chair of its Department of Pharmacy Practice.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. Named best Little Rock metropolitan area hospital by U.S. News & World Report, it is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has more than 2,800 students and 790 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com.

The UAMS College of Pharmacy student team was named one of three the top three finalists in the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) 2013 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. The team of four P4 year students will compete with teams from the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy and the University of the Pacific Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy in a live competition at NCPA’s Annual Convention this October. This year’s competition drew submissions from 39 schools and colleges of pharmacy. The College’s team placed first in the competition in 2012.

• Bethany Jensen, of Roland, Ark.
• Emily Kordsmeier, of Sherwood, Ark.
• Tyler Martin, of Paragould, Ark.
• Melody Williams, of Springfield, Ark.

The NCPA faculty advisor is Schwanda Flowers, Pharm.D.Associate Dean for Student Affairs & Faculty Development
Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice

To view NCPA’s officical release click here.

July 2, 2013 | A world-renowned laser and nanomedicine researcher at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is the inaugural recipient of the Josephine T. McGill Chair in Head and Neck Cancer Research.

The McGill Family Otolaryngology Research Endowment Fund for head and neck cancer research was created by the late Josephine Tate McGill, of Camden, and her siblings (Mary Helen, Samuel and Thomas) in memory of their parents Samuel D. McGill, M.D., and Helen McRae Watts McGill. The family’s connection with UAMS started many years ago when Helen McRae Watts McGill was a patient under the care of James Suen, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery in the College of Medicine at UAMS.

Vladimir Zharov, Ph.D., D.Sc., senior scientist in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, director of the Phillips Classic Laser and Nanomedicine Laboratory and professor in the UAMS College of Medicine, accepted the chair during a June 4 ceremony at UAMS.

“It is an honor to accept this chair and to work alongside such talented professionals at UAMS,” Zharov said. “Because of the extreme generosity of the McGill family, this chair will be used to support research, which is so important for new discoveries to cure cancer and improve the health of people in the state, country and around the world.”

Zharov is currently pioneering research in identifying circulating tumor cells in the blood vessels of cancer patients, which will have a major impact on future cancer diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

Suen presented the chair to Zharov and praised his groundbreaking research.

“I am honored to present this chair to Dr. Zharov, and to see all of the promising work he has in store to accomplish in cancer research,” Suen said. “I know under his leadership, our department will continue to thrive as one of the top head and neck cancer research programs in the world.”

Before McGill’s death in November 2012, she gave a gift to the UAMS Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, which was used to establish the endowed Josephine T. McGill Chair in Head and Neck Cancer Research. Josephine Tate McGill was born June 7, 1928 in Camden, one of four children of Samuel D. McGill, M.D., and Helen McRae Watts McGill. “Dodie,” as she was known,

Dodie, as she was known, graduated from Camden High School, and then attended the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where she was a member of the Chi Omega Sorority. She graduated in 1950 with a degree in home economics and began her career as a home service advisor for Arkansas Power & Light Co (AP&L).

After a few years with AP&L, she returned to college to become a dietitian. In 1955, she went to work at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. She also worked in the Dallas area as a dietitian for the Carrollton Independent School District. She later returned to Arkansas as a dietitian for the North Little Rock schools and then the State Health Department.

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy recently received a gift of $25,000 to establish the Walmart-Sam’s Club Student Leadership Scholarship.

“We greatly appreciate being given the opportunity to partner with Walmart and Sam’s Club in recognizing leadership among our students,” said Stephanie F. Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D, dean of the UAMS College of Pharmacy. “This scholarship will provide support to current and future students who work hard to gain leadership skills that they will need as they enter practice in our evolving health care environment.”

Income from the endowed fund will be awarded annually during the UAMS College of Pharmacy’s scholarship and award luncheon to an academically eligible student pharmacist who exhibits leadership skills and serves as a role model. Jessica Dickey, a second-year student from Rison, is the first recipient of the scholarship.

“We are pleased to be able to provide this financial assistance for student pharmacists at UAMS,” said Ami Bhatt, director of talent acquisitions and professional relations for health and wellness at Walmart. “We are achieving our goal of recognizing leadership among the pharmacy professionals of tomorrow.”

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. Named best Little Rock metropolitan area hospital by U.S. News & World Report, it is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has more than 2,800 students and 790 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com.

June 14, 2013 | Looking at a tube of lip balm on a store shelf, it’s impossible to know how many hours of precise measuring and mixing it took to arrive at a perfectly packaged product ready for consumption.

Tonya Presley, a high school student from Huntsville, can now explain what it takes to make this common item after she slipped into a lab coat and went behind the scenes in one of UAMS’ compounding labs to make lip balm and other household items such as cuticle cream and scented soap.

“The compounding lab was a really cool experience,” Presley said. “It was interesting to make simple things that I use all the time. I had no idea how many ingredients go in lip balm.”

Presley was one of 35 juniors and seniors who participated in the 7th annual UAMS College of Pharmacy summer Pharmacy Camp, where they were immersed in their first complex laboratory experience.

“The compounding lab is always one of the more popular activities we do at pharmacy camp,” said Eddie Dunn, Pharm. D., associate professor of pharmacy practice. “This is just one aspect we expose them to during the week. We strive to give them a taste of everything that they would experience as a pharmacy student. We hope this will encourage them to continue to pursue education in pharmacy and ultimately a pharmacy career.”

LITTLE ROCK – Josh Brown, a third-year student at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy, has been selected as one of 40 health care students in the country to participate in the Paul Ambrose Scholars Program (www.aptrweb.org ).

Brown is the fifth UAMS student pharmacist to be named as an Ambrose Scholar. Past recipients were Sarah Frank Uroza ’07, Pharm.D., Eric Crumbaugh ’08, Pharm.D., and Ashley Castleberry ’11 Pharm.D., Corey Hayes ’13.

The program is planned and implemented by the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research, the professional organization for the academic public health community dedicated to prevention research and professional education.  It introduces health professions students to influential public health professionals and prepares them to be leaders in addressing public health challenges.

The honor means Brown will attend a three-day leadership symposium June 20-23, 2013, with 40 health professions students from across the country with similar interests in prevention and public health. He also will implement a funded and mentored community project. He will receive a $200 reimbursable micro-grant to assist with project-related costs, as well as a travel stipend.

The Symposium provides skills-based training by leaders in public health. Past speakers have included Surgeons General, public health officials, industry experts and veteran public health practitioners.

With his micro grant, Brown will work with media outlets to provide assistance to people seeking Medicare Part D plans.  Via a link on the outlets websites, seniors would be connected to UAMS College of Pharmacy students who will help them find the right plan for their particular medical needs.

Brown, of Van Buren, is the son of Karen and David Brown. He attended Van Buren High School and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville prior to attending UAMS.

At UAMS, he is a member of Rho Chi Honor Society and Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity. He also serves as president of a newly founded graduate student chapter of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research and is a graduate student in the College’s Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy program.

The scholars program is posthumously named for Paul W. Ambrose, M.D., M.P.H., a rising star in the field of prevention and public health who died in 2001. At the time of his death, Ambrose worked for the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serving as the seventh Luther Terry Fellow.