May 14, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2013
For additional information,
Contact: Tami Hartmann
Moxley Carmichael
(865) 544-0088
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Second year students from the South College School of Pharmacy team (l-r) Michael Dotson, John Schnur and Brian Williams work together at the National Student Pharmacist Compounding Competition to solve one of the regulatory issues related to compounding. These students placed 4th overall in the competition, competing against 14 other pharmacy schools from across the country.
Students from the South College School of Pharmacy recently came in 4th in the third annual National Student Pharmacist Compounding Competition (NSPCC) held in Gainesville, Florida. In its first national competition, the South College team competed against 14 other pharmacy teams from colleges and universities across the country.
Second-year pharmacy students Michael Dotson of Johnson City, Tenn.; John Schnur of Cincinnati, Ohio; and Brian Williams of Indianapolis, Ind. comprised the South College team which was led by faculty sponsor Dr. Jwala Renukuntla, Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
“We are so proud of this first showing at a national competition. It is a great accomplishment for our students to compete at this level with teams from such seasoned pharmacy programs,” said South College School of Pharmacy Dean Walter Fitzgerald. “It indicates the high level of instruction and student support we have already established at our young pharmacy program, as well as the quality of students at South College.”
The University Of Florida College Of Pharmacy hosted the event in collaboration with Corporate Medisca, a supplier of chemicals and education to the pharmacy compounding practice. First place in the competition went to students from University of New York-Buffalo School of Pharmacy. Other major pharmacy programs competing included teams from schools such as the University of Missouri, University of New Mexico, and University of Florida.
The competition was founded by University of Florida assistant professor Ken Speidel, Pharm.D., as an educational experience for student pharmacists to enhance their prescription formulation expertise and to increase their exposure to pharmacy compounding, an essential component to pharmacy practice.
The competition encompassed four different events:
- Compounding Classic – teams prepared three different pharmaceutical formulations which required identification of the chemicals needed, the quantities of each ingredient and the preparation procedures
- Regulatory Challenge – teams solved a series of regulatory issues related to compounding
- Poster/Kiosk Presentation – teams prepared a presentation on the design of a futuristic pharmacy
- Case Study – teams provided solutions to clinical case studies
“The national competition provided us with great insight and appreciation of just how complex contemporaneous development and compounding of pharmaceutical preparations is,” said South College team member Michael Dotson.
South College and Dr. Renukuntla plan to enter another team in the competition next year.
About South College
South College is a private institution accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to offer programs at the doctorate, masters, baccalaureate, and associate levels. South College seeks to meet the demands of the business community in East Tennessee and beyond through a focus on selected careers in high-demand fields. The school offers a doctorate degree in pharmacy; master’s degrees in physician assistant studies, criminal justice and education; bachelor’s degrees in business administration, elementary education, legal studies, nursing, pharmaceutical science, and health science; as well as associate degrees in various fields including accounting, business administration, medical assisting, network administration and security, paralegal studies, physical therapist assistant, and radiography.
For more information about the School of Pharmacy visit http://www.southcollegetn.edu/pharmacy/main.htm. For information about other South College academic programs, visit http://www.southcollegetn.edu.
