A year from 1st class, College of Notre Dame of Maryland's pharmacy

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Aug 22, 2008 by Anne Riley

As the health care industry prepares to tackle one of its biggest challenges yet -- the aging of the baby boomer generation -- College of Notre Dame of Maryland's new School of Pharmacy comes just in the nick of time.

"There's very much a high demand for pharmacists not only in the state of Maryland, but nationally," said Dr. Anne Lin, the school's founding dean. According to Lin, studies predict that the nation will be short more than 150,000 pharmacists by the year 2020, a shortfall that will come just as the rapidly aging population begins to need more pharmaceutical support.

The Baltimore college's School of Pharmacy, slated to open in fall 2009, will be the second of its kind in the state, after University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Lin said that although they may be competing for applicants, the schools plan to act as partners, not rivals.

"As a matter of fact, I've met with the dean at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and we both agree there's no sense in just competing against one another," Lin said. "It's probably better for us to work collaboratively.

"I'm sure we'll be sharing clinical facilities. I think as we move along, then we'll probably find more specifics on how we do that. But even as simple as just not locking anybody out of any places is a way of collaboration."

Dr. Natalie Eddington, dean at University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, agreed.

"I think we have a different vision than Notre Dame, but I think there's room for both schools," she said, noting that Maryland's program has a unique emphasis on pharmacy education.

"We're looking for ways to interact," Eddington said. "I think one of the challenges they'll have is recruiting faculty to teach in the various courses, but I think the School of Pharmacy at the University of Maryland and the Notre Dame campus can most likely work collaboratively to use distance technology to deliver some course content."

Although it will be located on the campus of Notre Dame, a women's college, the new pharmacy school will be co-ed, Lin said. However, the curriculum will have a specific focus on women's health throughout the life span.

"If you think about it, women live longer than men. So as the population ages, that means we have more women with health issues," Lin said. "That means you need pharmacists -- whether you're a male pharmacist or a female pharmacist -- that are able to manage health care-related issues in women."

Lin, who came to Notre Dame from Midwestern University in Glendale, Ariz., said she does not think the school's focus on women's health will deter male students from applying. However, she said it is difficult to predict how the admission process will turn out, since it has never been done before.

"I think, as with any new school, you know, you're going to have some applicants who shy away from the fact that we're new and we don't have our track record," she said. "But then, there'll be others who are attracted to it because these tend to be the risk- takers.

"Because it is so competitive to get into pharmacy school now, there will be a large number of applicants," she added, noting that the school has already received a number of inquiries about the program, despite it still being in the preliminary stages.

Although the school is scheduled to open in fall 2009, it will not be allowed to receive applications until it is granted pre- accreditation status from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. The college has applied for pre-accreditation status, Lin said, which will be conferred or denied in January after an on-site visit to the campus in November. If the program is awarded pre- accreditation status, it will become eligible for candidate status when it has enrolled its first class and for full accreditation status when that class has graduated.

"The fact that we have a site visit approved is certainly a good sign," Lin said. "In order for that to be approved, we had to submit an application, we had to hire the dean, we had to hire the leadership team and show that we are at least appropriately planning for the School of Pharmacy.

"The fact that they authorized a site visit this fall is an indication that we're moving in the right direction and our planning is going in the right direction. So, no one's going to guarantee that we'll definitely get it, but the indications are that if we continue on this route, and if we continue to complete what we had in the plans, it really shouldn't be an issue."

The new school, which will be located in an unused portion of the campus's Knott Science Center, is seeking to raise $15 million to $18 million to fund the program before the 2009 launch date. According to a spokeswoman for the college, the campaign has not yet gone public.