Annual Report - The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

8
Department of
Clinical Pharmacy
Faculty members of the UT Department of Clinical pharmacy are at the forefront
in teaching, research, clinical care and public service. The vast majority of
teaching pharmacy students in their last three years of the curriculum is delivered
by Clinical pharmacy faculty, including classroom instruction and 581 rotation
months (11.2 rotations per faculty) by full-time faculty during 2008-2009. new
course development was substantial in 2008 with several new rotation offerings
and didactic electives created. Teaching remains our largest percentage effort,
with significant growth in the amount of faculty time devoted to research and
service. For their teaching efforts, Drs. Robert parker and heather Eppert were
recipients of the UThSC Student Government association Excellence in Teaching
awards in 2009. additionally, there are 36 postdoctoral residency and fellowship
positions located across Tennessee precepted by Department of Clinical pharmacy
full- and part-time faculty members.
in 2007, reports indicated that the UT Department of Clinical pharmacy was
the second most published clinical department in the nation, with more than 120
peer-reviewed manuscripts published. noteworthy is that in 2008-2009, this number
increased to more than 160 peer-reviewed manuscripts, not including more
than 60 book chapters. The department continues to focus on the development of
clinical pharmaceutical scientists, with moves of laboratories to the new UThSC
Cancer Research Building and the Children’s Foundation Research Center at le
Bonheur Children’s medical Center. These moves will encourage collaboration
across traditional disciplines and between other colleges on the UThSC campus.
Significantly, clinical scientists Drs. Terreia Jones and Collin Hovinga won the first
competitive grants awarded by the campus Clinical and Translational Science institute
(CTSi). The department is also home to three endowed professorships and
one state-funded Center of Excellence, which has had renewable funding for 24
consecutive years. more than 30 funded grants were obtained in 2008-2009.
approximately 1.2 million people are served annually by the department’s
programs through the Drug information Center, immunization programs and
through an extensive network of patient care services throughout Tennessee. patient
populations served during the year include pediatrics, critical care/trauma/
nutrition, medicine, community, ambulatory care, women’s health, emergency
medicine and surgery patients. in addition, more than 10,000 pharmacists enrolled
in the college’s continuing education programs, and 5,000 participated in
workshops and other educational events this year.
The department, through Dr. Steve Foster, is central to the State of Tennessee’s
pharmacist response to the h1n1 virus, the coordination of UT student pharmacists
in immunization and our representation on the national advisory Committee
on immunization practices (aCip) as the only pharmacy representative.