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Students don white coats as first S.C. College of Pharmacy class by Mary Helen Yarborough Public Relations Pharmacy education in South Carolina marked a new era with the first installment to the South Carolina College of Pharmacy (SCCP), Class of 2010. Eighty young men and women donned their white coats in Charleston on Aug. 23 just as 110 of their classmates at the University of South Carolina (USC) in Columbia had done the day before.   The South Carolina College of Pharmacy Class of 2010 take the professionalism oath Aug. 23. The new SCCP is the result of an initiative to combine the state’s two institutions of pharmacy education into one college so that resources are maximized for the benefit of students, faculty, and ultimately the patients and citizens of South Carolina and nation.   The new students will benefit from curricula that has been expanded and combined between USC and MUSC for SCCP. Faculty and courses not available to both schools in the past now will be, said Joseph DiPiro, PharmD, professor and SCCP executive dean.   “For example, nuclear medicine has been offered here at MUSC, but it has not been available to USC students,” DiPiro said. “Now, both campuses could have access to this class,” which would be available through a distance learning link between the campuses.   While the number of pharmacy school applicants has tripled, South Carolina and all other southern states have among the highest level of unmet demand for pharmacists.   Those entering the field also are more highly qualified, diversified and must compete at a higher level to enter a pharmacy program.   “This is an exciting time for pharmacy education. The demand is expanding dramatically in community pharmacy, health-system pharmacy, as well as in managed health care and in the pharmaceutical industry,” DiPiro told the students. “Applications for pharmacy colleges nationwide have increased threefold in the past few years. We are now in a wonderful position to place the South Carolina College of Pharmacy at the forefront of national pharmacy education. The inaugural class of the South Carolina College of Pharmacy is very strong academically and compares favorably to previous classes at both MUSC, USC, and other well respected pharmacy schools across the country. Our students are prepared for the rigors of the PharmD program and excited about the opportunities available to serve the health care needs of South Carolinians and beyond. ”   The SCCP students will follow thousands who preceded them at the 125- year-old pharmacy program. MUSC’s first recognized pharmacy department at what was then called the Medical College of South Carolina was in 1881. USC’s program history operated from 1884 to 1891, but the current School of Pharmacy at USC has been in continuous operation since 1924.   The first-year SCCP students, as well as upper classmen who continue under the separate MUSC and USC program, can look forward to earning between $90,000 and $100,000 when they graduate in 2010. Pharmacists have among the best jobs in the nation that accompanies among the highest starting salary for any profession, according to economic experts and journals.   Most of the first year SCCP class are women (126 of 190) (the overall percentage of women in the profession was 46 percent in 2004); most are from South Carolina; and approximately 45 percent have a prior degree.   About 60 percent of them will go to work in a community drug store; 15 percent will work in a hospital; and between 10 percent and 15 percent will go into a residency program for advanced training, DiPiro said, adding that only a few, between three and five percent, will pursue graduate programs.   But all of them will join what has become America’s most trusted profession.   For the past 22 years, pharmacists have ranked at the top of the most trusted medical professionals, according to a recent Gallup Poll. The trust results from pharmacists’ unusually high accessibility as health professionals, and they provide care to a large portion of society. They are a leading source of health care information and education for the public, and they forge relationships with their patients that generally last a lifetime.   “Our profession of pharmacy is one of the most sought after and trusted professions today, and it is highly competitive to be invited to be part of any college or school of pharmacy,” said C. Wayne Weart, PharmD, an MUSC professor who served as keynote speaker for the Charleston SCCP ceremony. Weart encouraged students to be compassionate and become an active participant in the community. “…[As professionals], I believe that if we treat every patient like we would treat our mother, father, brother, sister or best friend, then we have done our job. We need to treat each patient the way we would want to be treated. Follow the Golden Rule, or better yet, exceed the Golden Rule. Follow what we call the Platinum Rule.”   Weart also encouraged students to become lifelong learners, but to expect that knowledge becomes quickly outdated in this field.   “What you will learn tomorrow during your first day of class may not always be true,” Weart said. “I am not telling you that you can use this as an excuse on the exam. Remember, very few things in medicine and in pharmacy are black and white, but various shades of gray. Our information base is growing at a tremendous rate. It has been estimated that information, worldwide, is doubling every two years or less.”   Weart said that a number of options exist for pharmacists when considering a patient's therapy, and health care professionals must always be certain that a patient is not taking any medication that could result in serious consequences. To that end, a pharmacist and doctor should communicate and share important information for the benefit of the patient’s health.   Meanwhile, the joint PharmD program has been approved by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. The SCCP has applied for accreditation for its doctor of pharmacy program through the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and was granted pre-candidate status this year. The doctor of pharmacy programs that have been offered by USC’s College of Pharmacy and the MUSC pharmacy program are fully accredited by ACPE.    DiPiro said that since SCCP is a new program, the accreditation process had to be repeated. Once the SCCP program achieves the next accreditation step, Candidate status, graduates will have full privileges for pharmacy licensure.     Friday, Sept. 1, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.