Categorized | Education, Health

Grant helps UH-Hilo Pharmacy students keep pace with technology

 

(Photo courtesy of UH-Hilo)

(Photo courtesy of UH-Hilo)

Second-year UH-Hilo College of Pharmacy students Jim Wasser, Jessica Toyama and Keegan Sugimoto are recognized by Ron Taniguchi, College of Pharmacy community partnerships director; Dr. John M. Pezzuto, College of Pharmacy dean and professor; Dr. John T. Berthiaume, HMSA vice president and medical director; and UH Hilo Chancellor Rose Tseng for their work in securing a $75,506 grant from the HMSA Foundation for the purchase of handheld personal digital assistants.

 

MEDIA RELEASE

Students in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo will gain experience using clinical software tools thanks to a $75,506 grant from the HMSA Foundation. 

The grant was acknowledged March 13 before a lecture on disease management to 86 second-year pharmacy students from Dr. John Berthiaume, M.D., HMSA medical director and vice president.

“This generous grant helps assure our students are well versed in state-of-the-art technology that will help them compete in the global marketplace, and we are grateful for the foresight HMSA has shown in awarding us the opportunity,” said Dr. John Pezzuto, dean of the College of Pharmacy. “Keeping pace with technological advancements is especially important as we continue our quest to become one of the top pharmacy schools in the country.”

The grant will provide students in the inaugural three classes with handheld personal computer devices (PDAs), which will enable students to load software tools that can assist with diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making.

“We’re very pleased to support he College of Pharmacy at UH-Hilo,” said Cliff K. Cisco, HMSA senior vice president. “These PDAs will put valuable information at the fingertips of pharmacy students, and will help advance the quality of health care in the community.”

The HMSA Foundation was established in 1986 by the Hawaii Medical Service Association to stimulate research of issues that confront Hawai’i’s healthcare industry. The Foundation awards between $1 million and $1.4 million in grants each year.

“HMSA’s decision to fund this technology is another example of the support the entire community has shown the College of Pharmacy and we are extremely proud to be associated with them,” said Ron Taniguchi, director of community partnerships in the College of Pharmacy and principal investigator on the grant.  

UHHilo’s College of Pharmacy is the only school in the Pacific region to offer a doctorate in pharmacy degree. The degree, also called a Pharm.D., is a professional degree requiring four years of study after completion of at least two years in a pre-pharmacy program in an accredited college or university.

The College of Pharmacy was awarded candidate accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education in July 2008. The College will be eligible for full accreditation when its first class of students graduate from the four-year program in 2011.

For more information about the College of Pharmacy, call 933-2909 or email pharmacy@hawaii.edu.

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