D’YOUVILLE BEGINS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR NEW PHARMACY PROGRAM

BUFFALO - D’Youville College is now accepting applications for entry into their new Doctor of Pharmacy program, scheduled to begin in August 2010. The School of Pharmacy plans to enroll 65 students in its inaugural class.

In order to enroll students in the professional phase of the curriculum for the fall 2010 term, the School has applied for pre-candidate accreditation status. It hosted an on-site evaluation of the program in October and is awaiting approval from the Accrediting Council for Pharmaceutical Education and the New York State Department of Education this January.

The private college began planning for the six-year program in 2007 and construction of a new $20 million six-story building on the West Side campus that will house the program is expected to be complete in the spring. The School’s leadership team and five pharmacy faculty have already been hired.

"Our new program is designed to prepare students to practice in an inter-professional patient-centered environment where pharmacists are responsible for assisting patients in managing their medication regimens,” says Gary P Stoehr, dean of the new program.

Students will graduate with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree.

D’Youville has long had a full complement of health care majors and pharmacy students will be able to collaborate with faculty in these disciplines. These include nursing, physician assistant, physical and occupational therapy, dietetics and chiropractic. "Through class exercises, practice experiences, and inter-disciplinary interactions, the program will teach students a team approach to caring for patients and communities,” Stoehr said.

"We want to produce graduates with a strong commitment to serving their community and their profession.”

The D’Youville program will be the third pharmacy program in Western New York; the State University at Buffalo started a program back in 1886 and St. John Fisher College in Rochester in 2006.