PURSUiNG MEdicAl cAREERS AFtER SERviNG thEiR cOUNtRy

A Decade of Successfor GNP/ICP TourneyMore than 140 golfers from all over SouthernCalifornia hit the links at Robinson Ranch Golf Clubin Canyon Country on Wednesday, June 13 for the10th annual – and final – Good NeighborPharmacy/Institute for Community PharmacyScholarship Golf Classic.The 2012 tournament, themed “A Decade of Success,”celebrated 10 years of GNP/ICP fundraising for theColleges of Pharmacy at Western University of HealthSciences and the School of Pharmacy at University ofSouthern California. More than $1.5 million has beenraised for scholarships at those schools through thetournament, which started in 2003.Mike Quick, National Vice President of Developmentfor Good Neighbor Pharmacy – and the tournament’sfounder and honorary chairman – said the scholarshipmoney raised over the past decade has assisteddeserving students interested in communitypharmacy.“We’ve raised over $1.5 million for scholarships forWesternU and USC pharmacy students who want togo into independent pharmacy, through theentrepreneur program. I couldn’t be more proud ofthese 10 years. So I feel a little bit of sadness, becauseit’s the last one, but a ton of pride for what we’ve beenable to do in 10 years,” he said.“About 65 percent of the pharmacy owners ofindependent pharmacies today in this country are 55or older,” Quick continued. “It makes a lot of sense forus to have these young new pharmacists come out andbuy the businesses, so the chains don’t purchase themor they don’t go away. There’s a tremendous need forgetting these young people to where they can buy abusiness and be a doctor of pharmacy … I think that’svery, very important.”David Breslow, PharmD, Chief Executive Officer of theInstitute for Community Pharmacy, said thetournament and the $10,000 individual scholarshipsits proceeds sponsored have gone a long way towardmaking community pharmacy a viable option for newpharmacy graduates.“Our intent when we started out was to try and fosterthe development of the next generation of storeowners for independent pharmacies, and we’ve donethat,” he said. “We’ve got graduates now that aregoing out and buying stores and assuming ownership,so we think it’s been an incredible success, and wethink we’ve made an impact on the future ofcommunity pharmacy.“A few years back, when we started, the general feelingamong the students was, ‘This is not an option.Community pharmacy is going away – we’ve got to gointo hospital or chains.’ That pendulum has definitelyswung back to community pharmacy,” he said.Daniel Robinson, PharmD, Dean of WesternU’sCollege of Pharmacy, had nothing but praise for theGNP/ICP tournament and the ways it has helpedWesternU students.“This has been helping us with scholarships andbenefiting students for 10 years, and we’re sorry to seeit end, but it’s been a great run and we’ve had afabulous time,” Robinson said.Though the GNP/ICP tournament has ended its run,WesternU’s College of Pharmacy plans to have a newscholarship tournament of its own starting in 2013.Date and location are still being determined.– Jeff KeatingWesternU View Summer 2012 51