NSU Horizons Spring/Summer 2009

His colleagues agree on the importance of looking beyond standard training when educating new pharmacists. “The study-abroad program provides an introduction and helps them integrate the Western practice with Eastern tradition,” said Leanne Lai, Ph.D., director of the interna- tional program at the College of Pharmacy. “It helps students become more open-minded about other methods.” Fourth-year pharmacy student Tami Houser, who was part of last year’s trip to China, said she gained respect for traditional Chinese medicine on the journey. “I also learned ways to incorporate it into Western medicine. For instance, we spoke to patients in hospitals in Bei- jing who use acupuncture to treat side effects caused by the Western medications they use,” Houser said. “I would recommend the study- abroad program to other students because it is such a unique and valuable learning experience that very few other pharmacy students or pharmacists will ever have.” But it’s not only the students who benefit from NSU’s China con- nection. The Chinese visiting scholars in the College of Optometry say they come here to teach and learn from Americans. “I think the biggest difference is that American optometry has a very mature system of education. But, in China, it’s still very young,” said Ying Wu, M.D., an ophthalmologist from Fudan University in Shanghai, who is currently teaching and studying at NSU’s College of Optometry. “We want to learn and gain experience from America in how to con- struct an appropriate educational system in China and also to experience clinics here.” Along with her colleague from Fudan University, Feng Xue, M.D., Wu plans to spend a full year at NSU. Several weeks after arriving, both say they’re already happy with their visit. “Here, they give me lots of help and allow me to observe. Even my supervisor said, ‘You can do whatever you want,’” Xue said. “In our spare time, we talk about the differences between China and here. Maybe we can learn from the experience in the United States, and when we go back, we can provide better service for our patients.” In both the colleges of optometry and pharmacy, the future seems likely to bring even greater collaborations with China. Jiang said he hopes the College of Optometry will begin a joint- degree program with a Chinese university, drawing graduate students from China to study here, while continuing the flow of NSU study- abroad students to Asia. He said discussions about this are underway with Shenyang Medical College in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. “I want this program to operate so that both sides feel the benefits,” Jiang said. Attracting even larger numbers of Chinese academics to NSU should be easy enough, judging from the experience of another visiting scholar in the College of Optometry, Yongji Liu, Ph.D., from Nankai University in Tianjin. After more than one year here, she said her work has been productive and enjoyable. “I think the facilities for us are very good at NSU—things such as the shuttle bus and availability of computers and printers. What im- pressed me most are the electronic resources at the library,” she said. “And the staff is very warmhearted at this school. People are nice. I had a good time here.” At the College of Pharmacy, Lai said the study-abroad affiliation with the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine will continue. “They’re a major research institution,” she said. She added that there is also a new affiliation between NSU and Taiwan’s largest pharmacy school, Kaoshiung Medical University. Lai will be part of a faculty exchange tentatively scheduled for June 2009, and talks have begun about the pos- sibility of developing a student research exchange as well. n Pharmacy Students Respond to International Natural Disasters When a massive, 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck central China’s Sichuan Province in May 2008, killing more than 22,000 people, a group of NSU College of Pharmacy students were quick to help the victims. “A tragedy in China is a tragedy for everyone,” said Tami Houser, a fourth-year pharmacy student. “My heart went out to all the victims.” Houser and her classmates began to raise money for the Red Cross Society of China to help victims pur- chase food, medicine, potable water, blankets, tem- porary shelter, and other basic necessities. Although they’ve never been to China before, Houser said she felt personally connected to the victims because she was preparing to participate in a study-abroad program in China a few weeks after the earthquake struck. By June, the students raised $1,500 for the Red Cross Society of China. Soon after, they joined forces with the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine to in- crease the relief efforts. “Our pharmacy students want to reach out to the people of China in their time of need,” said Leanne Lai, Ph.D., an NSU professor of pharmacy who oversees the study-abroad program. Lai took 48 pharmacy stu- dents to Japan and China last summer to learn about holistic medicine and traditional Chinese medicine techniques—such as acupuncture, Tai Chi, massage therapy, and herbal medicine—in a real-world setting. Not long after their China trip, the pharmacy stu- dents were offering their relief efforts in another part of the world devastated by natural disasters. The Carib- bean region had been pummeled by a series of hur- ricanes and tropical storms in August and September that left death and destruction in their wake. One of the worst-hit places was the island nation of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti was struck by hurricanes Ike and Gustav and tropi- cal storms Fay and Hannah during a month-long stretch. The storms left towns inundated with floodwaters and residents without homes, food, and potable water. To abate the suffering, the pharmacy students teamed up with their classmates from the colleges of osteopathic medicine and allied health and nursing to collect donations of nonperishable food, clothes, wa- ter, bedding, and other supplies. The Health Profes- sions Division (HPD) students collaborated with Food for the Poor, a South Florida-based charity organiza- tion that transported the goods to Haiti. In addition, the pharmacy students sold stickers to raise money. “This is an excellent example of how our health pro- fessions students are making a difference in people’s lives,” said April Mitchison, M.B.A., NSU’s manager of events and academic support systems for HPD. “Helping victims is the right thing to do because we are all members of the global community,” said Houser. 11 horizons