Sharks RX Spring 2015 Magazine

6 r NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY more patient care, but, as he said, “with a business aspect to it.” Attending school in the states, and specifically NSU’s COP, broadened his view of the profession. “Pharmacy practice in Africa is still product focused. Emphasis is placed on chemistry and manufacturing. In the United States, pharmacy practice is more clinically focused with an emphasis on ther- apeutics. At NSU, I learned that pharmacists are appropriately qualified to be primary care providers,” said Patel. ASHP states that colleges, like NSU’s College of Pharmacy, have kept pace with the expanding role of the pharmacist. The College of Pharmacy has continued to evolve since it began 28 years ago. The pharmacy program has expanded from admitting 49 students in its first class to an average of 220 students per year, and the Pharm.D. for international pharmacists represents more than 39 countries. NSU’s passing rates on pharmacy licensing exams—above 90 percent— continue to be strong. Residency and fellowship programs have been created in community pharmacy, psychiatry, ambu- latory care, general pharmacy practice, HIV/infectious disease, pediatrics, informatics, and transition of care. NSU is one of the few pharmacy colleges in the United States that operates multiple pharmacies—a community pharmacy on campus and a hospital pharmacy at South Florida State Hospital, a facility in Pembroke Pines—where students gain practical knowledge. NSU’s College of Pharmacy now has the fourth- largest Pharm.D. program in the United States. Nicole Jane Bernhardt, who will graduate in 2015 and is looking forward to her job as a staff pharmacist at CVS Health, embraces the value of her work-study experience at the COP. “During my time here, I worked under several professors in work-study situations,” she said. “These experiences even led to an opportunity to conduct research with the Sociobehavioral and Administrative Pharmacy Department, which resulted in getting an article published in a scholarly journal.” She says that being viewed by faculty members as a “future colleague rather than a student” made the opportunity even more impactful. Bernhardt, who graduated from Florida International University with a degree in chemistry and a minor in criminal Top: Miguel Acosta, pharmacy manager, NSU Clinic Pharmacy (left), instructs student Bimal Patel at the community pharmacy, one of two pharmacies operated by the NSU College of Pharmacy. Bottom: Mehul Patel, Pharm.D. class of 2015 and member of NSU College of Pharmacy Dean’s Ambassador Program, examines the pharmacy artifacts at the Health Museum of NSU’s Health Professions Division (located in the Terry Building).