Pharmacy school is perfect remedy

By TIFFANNIE BOND

VIEW STAFF WRITER

The Nevada College of Pharmacy will open its doors in January -- and for area drug stores, that's not a moment too soon.

The first class will begin Jan. 22 with approximately 50 to 60 students. The second class will begin in September.

About 60 percent of the students will be from Nevada, and the rest will likely come from border states. The school will enroll no more than 100 students, said Harry Rosenberg, president and dean of the college.

Unlike six-year programs in other states, the college will have a three-year completion rate with at least two years of previous college experience or at least 60 semester credits.

Prerequisites include one year of general chemistry and organic chemistry as well as one semester of calculus, English composition, speech communication and microbiology.

So far, college administrators have sent out 152 applications to mostly regional addresses.

Tuition will cost $24,000 per year for the three-year program. This will give the students more education and will cost less than if they attended a four- or six-year school.

An extra year in the workplace means more income for the student and less time in school.

Pharmacy students will attend class from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily throughout the year. Students will take one comprehensive class per semester to allow for full concentration.

"We don't teach several courses at one time," Rosenberg said. "The curriculum, for the most part, is patient-based and integrated. ... You don't have the disruptions from other courses. Our students are available for instruction for six hours a day."

The six hours will be spent on lecture, debate, roll playing and pharmacy internships.

Another unique trait of the school is students don't receive a traditional letter grade at the end of a session. The classes are pass/fail, allowing the instructors to decide on a student's competency instead of isolated performances.

"Our students need to be competent," Rosenberg said. "Competencies are yes and no. You can either do it or you can't."

This policy also reduces competitiveness usually associated with medical school and increases student collaboration.

"You can't have a competitive system if you want all students to be competent," Rosenberg said. "This encourages students to work together towards a common goal."

Although the college will be mostly tuition driven, it has also gained financial support from area drug stores, including Sav-On, Walgreen's, Wal-Mart and Raley's, an interest that's self-involving as well as community minded.

"These chain drug stores are interested because of the acute shortage of pharmacists here," Rosenberg said.

Approximately 110 pharmacists are needed per year, largely because of the Las Vegas Valley's growing senior population.

"There's a lot of people who retire here, and the elderly are the chronic users of drugs," Rosenberg said.

For now, the school is cohabiting with the Painter's Union at 1701 Whitney Mesa Drive and administrators are currently negotiating a permanent place in the heart of the Henderson downtown redevelopment area.

Convenience is the main focus of the school for area drugstores. They have had to recruit out-of-state for pharmacists when "everyone is shooting for that same piece of the pie," said George Flaherty, Walgreen's district pharmacy supervisor.

With 31 stores in the valley -- and seven to open before the end of January -- Walgreen's, as well as the other chains, are in desperate need of pharmacists.

Because there's a drugstore in practically every major neighborhood from Mt. Charleston to Sunrise Mountain, pharmacies are a part of the community. On average, a pharmacist will see his patients five times more than a physician because of convenience and the frequency of the visits, Flaherty said.

"We're chain retailers, but from a pharmacists' level, we're community pharmacists," Flaherty said.

"It's not so much out of necessity. It's the role of the pharmacist as a health-care professional. It's the things doctors could be doing, but we see patients so often, we're the triage."

With the onset of preventive medications and drug therapy in the past 10 years, pharmacists have to know more information about the people they serve.

Gone are the days of sorting drugs and dosages. Pharmacists can now run osteoporosis, asthma, diabetic and cholesterol screenings and suggest when a person should see a doctor for one of these ailments. Checking for overdosing, drug interaction and side effects are another part of the job.

Pharmacists at Walgreen's can also screen vitamins and over-the-counter drugs for interactions with prescribed medications.

All this comes from pharmacists knowing the patients in the community.

"This school is going to emphasize community pharmacy to an extent," Flaherty said. "It's going to be a great benefit to the students here."

Those interested in obtaining more information on the Nevada College of Pharmacy can call 990-4434.