Written by Robby Carriger
The Harding University College of Pharmacy is beginning its first full school year this semester. The newest academic program on campus, it is housed in the newest campus building, the $7.7 million Center for Health Sciences on the south side of campus. The state-of-the-art building is home to the Pharmacy College as well as the Physician Assistant program and houses a deli area open to all Harding students.
Walking into the new building, one gets the sensation of being in a suburban business or doctor’s office rather than a class building on the Harding campus. The facility features brand new labs and top-of-the-line research facilities with room for about 60 students. In these labs, students of the Pharmacy College will learn to work with prescription drugs, as well as practice patient care.
Assistant Dean for Experiential Education Jeff Mercer said the key to the pharmacy program will be the hands-on experience students get.
“We want our students and everyone else to realize that pharmacy is more than just taking the pills from the big bottle and moving them to the little bottle,” Mercer said. “We want to expose them to everything possible to prepare them for what they will face when they leave.”
Pharmacy students will spend much of their time working with patients and facing real-world scenarios. Requirements will demand students shadow professionals in the field, as well as spend more than 1,700 hours in patient interaction, including 1,440 during their final year in the four-year program.
Along with the hands-on activities come the assessment tests the students take as soon as they begin the program and then again as they finish it. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Forrest Smith said students will be tested in a variety of areas, ranging from ethics to reading level.
The key to solidifying the Pharmacy College at Harding is receiving accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. Currently, Harding pharmacy students can meet all of their requirements on campus but must go elsewhere to take their certification exams. By receiving ACPE accreditation, Harding would become eligible to administer these exams and thus allow students to fulfill their requirements without needing to go elsewhere.
Carol Kell, Director of Admissions for the college, said the focus of recruiting for this program is quality of students, not quantity.
“With lab facilities designed for about 60 students, our class size cannot get any bigger, so we strive for the best 60 students possible,” Kell said.
She also said the program has a nine-to-one application to acceptance ratio.
“We are just so grateful to the administration for the support the have given our program and our new building,” Kell said.
Students are encouraged to walk through the building and use the cafeteria. Harding students may use their DCB to buy any of the soups, salads and sandwiches offered in the building’s cafeteria.
