University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Expanding to Montgomery County

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy will take its nationally-ranked Doctor of Pharmacy program to The Universities at Shady Grove this fall. Responding to a critical pharmacist shortage in Maryland that is expected to become more severe as baby-boomers age and use more medications, the School will enroll 40 additional students at the Montgomery County campus. The School is well beyond its maximum student capacity on the UMB campus. The plan will enable an enrollment increase of one-third in the entering class.

The expansion will be supported through enrollment increase funds provided by the Governor at the request of the Board of Regents and a substantial capital investment by the University of Maryland, Baltimore to construct specialized facilities for pharmacy at Shady Grove.

UMB President David J. Ramsay says, "Such an investment is worthwhile to support the University's mission to meet Maryland's need for the vital health profession of pharmacy. Moving our PharmD program to Shady Grove also gives our research-intensive School of Pharmacy a foothold in the heart of Montgomery County's 270 research corridor."

School of Pharmacy Dean David A. Knapp says, "The Shady Grove program will eventually enroll a full four-year complement of 160 students, drawing upon the rich resources of clinical facilities and government and industrial laboratories in the region to support the doctoral program. The new location will also provide an alternative to the main campus in Baltimore for students residing in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, as well as somewhat easier access for students from Western Maryland."

The Shady Grove expansion is part of an ambitious expansion plan by the School of Pharmacy to double its PharmD enrollment over the next 10 years. Central to the effort is construction of a new pharmacy building on the Baltimore campus to house the additional faculty, students, and educational and research facilities essential to support the growth. The School received initial planning funds for the building during last spring's General Assembly and has engaged architects to begin work on the building.

It is important that the General Assembly provide continued planning and construction funds to complete the building as quickly as possible. "The new building is a critical piece of our enrollment expansion," says Knapp.

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Pharmacy school expands to Montgomery campus

University of Maryland, Baltimore, aims to meet demand with new four-year programs at Shady Grove

This fall, the pharmacy school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, will offer its four-year degree programs at the university system’s Shady Grove campus for the first time.

The school’s expansion into Montgomery County will help meet a shortage of pharmacists in Maryland and nationwide by enrolling 40 pharmacy students each year, said university officials. The school is also planning to double the size of its classroom and laboratory facilities in Baltimore.

‘‘The move to Shady Grove is also giving the school of pharmacy a foothold in Montgomery County to establish economic development here in collaboration with the biotech community and other health care organizations,” said David A. Knapp, dean of the pharmacy school. ‘‘That can only be facilitated by moving our program down here.”

The school’s doctorate of pharmacy program requires four to six weeks rotation in a community hospital, pharmacy, company or health care agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the National Institutes of Health.

Rockville, Prince George’s County and Southern Maryland are among the areas in Maryland running short of pharmacists, according to a July 2006 survey of 63 drugstore chains by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. The survey also revealed shortages in Baltimore, Arnold, Prince Frederick, the Eastern Shore and Eldersburg.

On a scale of 1 for a large shortage to 5 for large oversupply, the state of Maryland scored 1.91 on the survey, compared with its score of 2.19 in the same survey in January 2006.

Knapp said the pharmacist shortage, which began several years ago, is likely to grow bigger as the leading edge of baby boomers age and require more medications.

‘‘The need for professional pharmacists trained in the discovery, development, and use of medicine rivals the need for nurses and other health care professionals,” William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, wrote in an e-mail,

Extension of the pharmacy curriculum to the Universities at Shady Grove campus will ease a logjam of students applying in Baltimore for the 120 slots open each year, while offering a more convenient location for students in and around Montgomery County.

‘‘This came together when the Board of Regents encouraged us to deal more dramatically with the pharmacy shortage,” Knapp said. The curriculum at Shady Grove will be ‘‘a hybrid” of distance learning and live instruction.

‘‘This is a sizable expansion into this region and will expand the number of pharmacists statewide,” he said.

Maryland hospitals had a 10.5 percent vacancy rate for pharmacists in 2005, up from 8.5 percent in 2004, said Nancy Fiedler, a spokeswoman with the Maryland Hospital Association. She said 2006 figures are not yet available, ‘‘but we see no indication from the data that the vacancy rate did not continue last year.”

While the drugstore association survey showed an increase of vacancies for full-time pharmacists nationally from 3,941 in January 2006 to 4,044 in July 2006, the trend radically reversed for part-time vacancies. The survey showed only 389 vacancies for part-timers in July 2006, versus 3,558 part-time vacancies only six months earlier.

As more male pharmacists ‘‘prepare to retire and men and women opt for part-time work” the U.S. pharmacy profession ‘‘could face a worsening shortage,” according to the National Pharmacist Workforce Study in the May⁄June 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, sponsored by the nonprofit Pharmacy Manpower Project Inc.

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NEOUCOM adding pharmacy school

North Eastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine is opening a new college of pharmacy this fall.

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education granted North Eastern Ohio Universities College of Pharmacy pre-candidate accreditation status for its Doctor of Pharmacy program, which will allow the developmental program to admit its first 75 students for the fall semester, 15 of whom will be chosen from Kent State.

The school is expected to progress in accordance to a stated plan within a specified period of time before reaching candidate status and graduate its first class before attaining full accreditation, according to a NEOUCOP press release.

The new institution is the only professional pharmacy school in the eastern half of the state.

"We've always needed one in this part of Ohio," said Jim Hostler, chief pharmacist at DeWeese Health Center.

Prescription: Communication

The institution's goal is to appease the need for more pharmacists in Ohio and set a national standard for pharmaceutical education by training students in a setting that mirrors the professional workforce, said David D. Allen, dean of pharmacy.

"I think the vision relates to creating a program based on excellence and having a significant impact on patient care in Northeast Ohio," Allen said. "That's very important to us in terms of the faculty we'll bring in that will be participating in patient care at various hospitals and community pharmacy settings."

Communication between doctors and pharmacists is often minimal. The process in which one calls in the prescription, the other fills it and then hands it off to the patient, is simply protocol.

"Sometimes I feel like the patient is just stuck in the middle," said Michael Kelley, doctor of osteopathic medicine. "I think the patient would benefit through better communication between doctors and pharmacists."

Exposure to each other's respective fields, such as on-site visits to offices and labs or just a sit-down dialogue between professionals, could assist health providers to better understand one another, Kelley said.

Interdisciplinary education

The idea of a well-rounded curriculum is to provide common ground for the future health care professionals and teach them effective communication to enhance patient care, Allen said.

NEOUCOM plans to integrate the College of Pharmacy students into its annual White Coat Ceremony scheduled for late August.

Through the combined white coat event, Allen expects to convey to students that their education is not about them as individuals anymore, but about the patient.

A patient depends on doctors and pharmacists for his or her health and well-being, Kelley said.

Many patients ask their doctors about various medications and herbal remedies, but doctors may not be aware of all the options.

"There are so many new drugs, it's hard for doctors to keep up," Hostler said.

The colleges of medicine and pharmacy requires students to participate in a Pharmacotherapeutics and Practice of Pharmacy sequence in which they interact with individuals who are trained to portray an illness or medical condition to students.

Specialty and opportunity

NEOUCOP's curriculum includes extensive laboratory work to complement patient care training. Doctor of Pharmacy students will learn compounding, which is making drugs from scratch.

The college requires students to participate in eight rotations before they are eligible to graduate. In this stage of education, students will gain real-life experience at various pharmacies, hospitals, and laboratories.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported employment of pharmacists is expected to grow through 2014 because of the increasing demand for pharmaceuticals from a growing elderly population.

"The job outlook is phenomenal, I mean the shortage of pharmacists is one of the reasons why we're here," Allen said. "So if students come in our program and graduate, they're going to be able to pick and choose job offers."

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Filling a need: More area pharmacists wanted soon

Aging population fuels demand for more drugs

As Americans age, they will need their prescription drugs. But will there be enough pharmacists to help them? The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that employment of pharmacists is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2014 and that the increasing numbers of middle-aged and elderly people — who use more prescription drugs than younger people — will continue to spur demand for pharmacists.

Pharmacist Jim Ray works on filling a prescription Wednesday for a Unity Hospice patient inside the main pharmacy at St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay. Evan Siegle/Press-Gazette

The National Association for Chain Drug Stores — which had 36,231 members in 2006 — said there were 4,044 open pharmacy positions in July 2006. The association said 136,773 community pharmacists were employed in 2004 and 147,378 will be needed by 2010.

Locally, pharmacist staffing remains stable. However, those in charge of hiring pharmacists know it will be a challenge in the future as baby boomers retire and more prescriptions need filling.

Tiffani Bruce, a spokeswoman for Walgreens, which has four pharmacies in Green Bay, one each in De Pere, Ashwaubenon and Howard and one is planned for Bellevue — said there isn't a significant shortage of pharmacists in the area, but there is a need for more.

Some pharmacists are looking at retirement and others at taking leaves of absence, she said.

"We've been heavily recruiting," she said, "and we continue to do so."

In fact, she said, the chain is offering "pretty nice bonuses" for pharmacists to work in the Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh areas.

"We want to make sure we have plenty of coverage in our pharmacies at all times," she said.

Also in the works are plans to have another 24-hour pharmacy in the Green Bay area, she said. It currently has one at 1401 E. Mason St.

Walgreens offers overnight pharmacists a schedule of seven nights on and seven nights off.

"For some, that's attractive," she said.

Walgreens, she said, opens a new store every 19 hours in its quest to increase the number of stores from 5,611 as of Thursday to 7,000 by 2010.

That can't happen if they don't have the pharmacists, she said.

Little turnover

St. Vincent Hospital, Green Bay, has very little turnover in its pharmacist staff of 21, 15 of whom are full time employees, said Jean Marsch, director of human resources.

"Actually, we've been very fortunate," she said. "We've not had trouble filling positions."

But that could change.

"If we do have an opening, that could be one of our more difficult positions to fill," she said.

St. Vincent's pharmacy is open all the time. Satellite pharmacies by its pediatrics, oncology and intensive care units are open weekdays so doctors and nurses can easily confer with pharmacists while making their rounds. Pharmacists, she said, work with nurses and doctors as integral parts of health-care teams.

"They have the deep knowledge of the medications needed. When there are questions, they are the experts and you have to recognize that," she said.

When hiring pharmacists, she said, the needs of the hospital and pharmacists must be considered.

For instance, someone must work the overnight hours. That isn't always a popular shift.

"It's important to find people who like the night shift," Marsch said. "Some people do."

The hospital also has full- and part-time options, which help it meet individuals' scheduling needs.

"That seems to be a nice balance we can strike because some companies aren't able to do that."

Stable staff

Trent Zeitler, pharmacist and partner at Streu's Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy, 635 Main St., Green Bay, said his business has had a stable group of six full-time pharmacists and three who work several hours per week for the past several years.

He anticipates, however, that in the next five years, the pharmacy will need an additional two pharmacists as a result of increased business from aging baby boomers and increased number of medicines now used.

Zeitler said the pharmacy participates with the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy in a clinical program in which students work there for eight-week stints.

"They serve as pharmacists, and while they're here, they really see what it is like."

Zeitler anticipates when the time comes to hire a pharmacist, they will likely try to recruit from someone in that program.

"You get to know someone pretty well over that eight-week period of time," he said.

Zeitler said the pharmacy is considering entering a year-long residency program with the UW School of Pharmacy, which has indicated in the past that Streu's would be a good place to start such a program.

"We just need to follow up to find out what it would take to do that," he said.

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Stretched too thin

Expanded health care faces critical shortage of doctors, nurses

California's efforts to expand health care to all residents have drawn sharp warnings from the medical community that the increased demand for services will overrun a system already stretched dangerously thin.

The state is already grappling with a critical shortage of doctors, nurses and other health workers, and experts say any plans to expand coverage must also include programs to boost recruitment, training and retention.

"We graduate about 6,000 nurses a year in the schools in California," said Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern California, which represents 190 medical centers. "We need to literally double that amount to begin to supply the needs we have currently.

"And we have shortages in other areas, too, like physical therapy, laboratory technicians, respiratory therapists, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

"It's creating a huge void, and in some cases, the problem is not being able to provide the care we are asked to provide."

California hospitals already have about 14,000 vacancies for registered nurses - about 35 openings at each hospital. That shortage is expected to grow to nearly 50,000 by 2010.

The Los Angeles area has the greatest nurse shortage - about 10,000 - which is expected to double over the next two decades, according to a recent report by the Center for California Health Workforce Studies at the University of California, San Francisco.

The problem is exacerbated, experts say, because people without medical insurance often suffer from chronic illnesses, such as hypertension and diabetes.

"These are people who have many medical needs," said Dr. Neil Parker, senior associate dean for student affairs and graduate medical education at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"That will drive up demand, and therefore your work force is going to be impacted even more. It will worsen the nursing crisis, worsen the looming physician shortage and accentuate the pharmacist shortages."

Solutions sought

Sabrina Lockhart, a spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said the governor is aware of the shortages and has been trying to resolve it.

Among his solutions is a $90 million California Nurse Education Initiative unveiled in 2005 to help colleges expand nursing education.

"It really took a multi-prong approach in addressing nursing shortages by expanding capacity, by not only training more nurses, but helping to keep them in the field," Lockhart said.

"And it created incentives for nurses to be part of the education process to help bring on new nurses. It's really about recruitment and retention."

Since Schwarzenegger took office in 2003, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development has awarded more than $6 million for medical professional training in areas where shortages are most acute.

Dr. Anmol S. Mahal, president of the California Medical Association that represents 35,000 doctors, said the governor's plan for expanded health care does not adequately address staffing, but he is hopeful changes will be made.

"This is just a proposal," Mahal said. "And he's really open to suggestions. I think the conversation on what needs to be done is just beginning, and it's going to be an ongoing conversation."

In addition to Schwarzenegger's, health care proposals have been offered by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, D-Los Angeles, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, Senate Health Committee chairwoman Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, and Republican lawmakers.

Plans differ

The governor's plan to offer health care to all Californians would impose new charges on doctors, hospitals and employers to expand coverage to an estimated 6.5 million uninsured residents.

The plans proposed by Nuñez and Perata focus on covering working Californians, rather than all residents, and would impose no fees on employers who don't provide employee coverage.

Kuehl's plan calls for a single-payer universal system into which all Californians would pay. They would receive coverage through a new government agency.

Charles Idelson, spokesman for the 75,000-member California Nurses Association, said the association supports Kuehl's plan because it would not exacerbate the nursing shortage.

"None of the other proposals are genuinely universal, and in some ways (they) may make the present mess even worse," Idelson said. "If you had a real universal health system that did encourage preventative care, then you would end up with fewer people in hospitals."

Dr. Ralph DiLibero, president of the 5,000-member Los Angeles County Medical Association, said any plan that is approved must boost medical staff.

DiLibero said schools lack the capacity and funding to train enough students, many students cannot afford the state's high costs of living, and a growing number of foreign-born medical professionals are returning home with U.S. educations.

"We, in California, have never trained enough physicians for our own needs," Mahal said. "We have been net importers of physicians from other states and from the rest of the world. In the past, that import was easy to sustain because we have the California lifestyle and the great weather to attract people.

"Unfortunately, it's not working as well now. California has some disadvantages. Physician reimbursements are lower, and physician incomes are lower in California than (in) other parts of the country. When combined with the high cost of real estate, it's a major deterrent to young physicians who come out of training with large medical school debts."

New schools needed

California is the most populous state in the nation, yet it ranks 39th in the nation in the number of medical students per capita at 16 medical students per 100,000 people.

There are 10 schools in California that are recognized by the state Medical Board as offering medical education. They admit an average of 1,340 first-year students annually and maintain an average annual enrollment of about 5,500 students.

But because of high teacher-student ratios, crowded facilities and other factors, there currently are far more people trying to get into medical and nursing schools than slots available.

"The waiting lists for students who want to go into nursing programs can be anywhere from six to 18 months long," Lott said.

UCLA has estimated that the growing pressures mean it needs to increase the number of physicians it trains by 30 percent in the years ahead.

"We need to increase the size of our schools for those that can increase," said UCLA's Parker. "And where we don't have the capacity in our current structures, we'll have to build more nursing schools, more medical schools and more pharmacy schools."

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Pharmacist shortage a bitter pill to swallow

By Myrtle Ryan & Melanie Peters

The long wait in queues for medication at public hospitals is a bitter pill to swallow for thousands of people, but there appears to be no short-term solution.

At some state hospitals the sick, the elderly and those on chronic medication can wait up to four days to have their medication dispensed, while hospital authorities struggle to fill vacant pharmaceutical posts.

The Western Cape appears to be better off than the other provinces, with around 50 of the 328 posts not filled. This compares with a shortage of 1 254 pharmacists in KwaZulu-Natal out of a total of 1 592 posts.

Miranda Anthony, spokesperson for the provincial department of health, said there were shortages throughout the country. "The main reason is the salary structure in the public service, which is not competitive with the private sector. This (sector) has grown in recent years and absorbed the majority of pharmacists."

This led to long queues in hospitals and frustrated patients. There was also a shortage of experienced pharmacists to train interns coming through the system.

The head of Pharmaceutical Services in KwaZulu-Natal's Department of Health, Cyril Tshabalala, said there were 1 254 pharmacy posts vacant in the province, but that this figure should be seen in context. Previously there had been 770 posts, but in 2006 it was decided to double the number of posts to cope with the HIV crisis and the general demand for their services. This meant there were now 1 592 positions, of which only 338 had so far been filled.

Although hospitals in all provinces are struggling to fill pharmacy posts, there does not appear to have been a reduction in the number of new pharmacy graduates. Andy Gray, senior lecturer in the department of Therapeutic and Medicines Management at Nelson Mandela School of Medicine in Durban, said while some pharmaceutical schools had seen a reduction in the number of students, this was not a countrywide phenomenon.

Between 350 and 400 pharmacists qualify in South Africa each year, but attrition of graduates had to be taken into account, said Gray. "Some decide to leave the country before doing their year of community service and many students from neighbouring states go home to do their internship and don't enter the profession in this country."

It was difficult to say how many pharmacists remained in the country, as many were registered here while working overseas, or not practising at all. He said of the 10 824 on the register of pharmaceutical practitioners, only about 9 000 were actually working here. Of these, only 1 746 were employed in the public sector, although 80 percent of the country's population was dependent on their services.

"There's a poor distribution of pharmacists, with too few in the public sector for the number of patients they need to attend to," said Gray. The allowance paid to people with scarce skills or to those prepared to work in rural areas had made a difference in some provinces, but in others this was not the case.

"At entry level some hospitals get no applicants. The Eastern Cape repeatedly advertises posts, but has few takers," said Gray.

Barbara Raftesath, president of the SA Association of Hospital and Institutional Pharmacists, said it had always been difficult to get healthcare professionals to work in the rural areas, and the Free State had been hit particularly hard.

Trying to get a precise breakdown of the salary differences between the private and the public sector had also proved almost impossible, as these differed not only from province to province, but also at individual hospitals within the province.

"There is no uniformity between private hospitals," said Raftesath. She pointed out that at Level 8 (an entry grade post) the public sector received very few applicants. At higher levels, where salaries were more on a par with the private sector, positions were easier to fill.

The department of public services is understood to be restructuring health workers' salaries in the public sector to attract and retain more health workers. No timeframe has been given as to when this will come into effect.

Aisha Suleman, a research pharmacist attached to the Reproductive Health Research Unit (a University of the Witwatersrand structure), cited salary discrepancies as the major reason for the shortage of public service pharmacists.

"The newly qualified community service pharmacists are leaving the public sector for the private sector in droves," said Suleman.

"The public sector is offering them about R130 000 a year and the private sector, such as Clicks, about R200 000."

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Telepharmacy program recognized

Pharmacists at the Alaska Native Medical Center and Southcentral Foundation have received the Award for Excellence in Medication-Use Safety, presented by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Research and Education Foundation during a ceremony in Anaheim in December. The award recognizes the telepharmacy program that has improved medication safety for rural Alaska residents with computer-aided equipment that allows for pharmaceutical care nearly equal to that provided in Anchorage. The system features secure, bullet- resistant dispensing units that resemble vending machines and can store up to 120 different medications. Pharmacists review each prescription order, have greater influence over prescribing habits, encourage medication adherence and help make medications more cost-effective for their patients.

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Pharmacists want KU School in Wichita

by Kim Hynes

You can find pharmacies on almost every corner in Wichita. But they can't find enough pharmacists to fill all of the prescriptions. There's a shortage in Kansas and it's not because people aren't interested. The problem is there aren't enough seats at the KU School of Medicine to meet the demand. To fix that, KU wants to build a pharmacy school in Wichita.

It's welcome news to pharmacist George Saghbene. The line at Barney's Pharmacy in Wichita is always getting longer. "The volume of prescriptions is up, so obviously you need more pharmacists to take care of the patients," Saghbene said. But it's not easy to find pharmacists. It took him a year to hire another one. "The competition is so great that literally they can quit overnight and go the next day and have a job," he said.

4 billion prescriptions were filled last year alone in the United States. That number is expected to keep growing as the population ages. To help meet the demand KU wants to start a school in Wichita with 20 students per class. "There are way more students who want to go to the school of pharmacy then can get in. At KU there were 4 applicants for every one who got in last year in Lawrence," Pharmacist Jeanine Brizendine said. She's working to get backing from the Wichita City Council and Sedgwick County Commission.

Brizendine says KU is also talking to the state about funding. She says it will cost four to five million dollars to start up. If they get funding soon, the school could open by fall 2008. It will be housed with the Wichita branch school of medicine.

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From chaos of Juan, a business idea springs to life

RxCool system monitors medication storage facilities over the Internet
By BILL POWER Staff Reporter

Many people who rely on sensitive medications were among those who suffered when hurricane Juan punched through Nova Scotia in 2003.

Pharmacies were among the thousands of homes and businesses that lost power and some drugs requiring refrigeration or strict humidity controls were tossed out due to quality concerns.

It was from this cloud of disruption that a Hants County software developer detected a niche for new technology to monitor medication storage facilities.

"After the hurricane many medications had to be pitched, creating significant disruption of the supply chain," Frank Hennigar of Ellershouse, president of the Food Systems Group of the Americas Inc., said Monday.

"People had to wait until stocks could be replenished."

The RxCool medication monitoring system developed by Food Systems Group gets medication stocks moving faster by providing an immediate alert of any potentially harmful environmental change at a storage location.

The system gets its first test drive at an undisclosed Dartmouth pharmaceutical warehouse in March.

"The system protects a pharmacy from dispensing something that might be unsafe and provides for an immediate response if there is a power interruption or equipment malfunction," said Mr. Hennigar.

He said RxCool is designed to protect medications in pharmacies, warehouses and in transit, and could potentially be used in any application involving temperature-sensitive products.

The system uses remote wireless sensors and satellite communications to signal an alert over the Internet of a significant temperature or humidity change.

Most other systems provide an after-the-fact alert, said Mr. Hennigar. An online alert allows a distributor to immediately order replacement product.

He said RxCool is a "logical extension" of his firm’s research on "traceability," an emerging technology with applications in the food and pharmaceutical fields where products must be traced through manufacturing and distribution.

The system can monitor a refrigerator being used as a medication cooler, a walk-in cooler or an entire warehouse. It could also be used in delivery vehicles, said Mr. Hennigar.

"RxCool provides an objective, documented way for the pharmacist to calculate when a medication is no longer safe or effective," he said.

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Officials to hear pharmacy school plans

A Wichita pharmacist will present the University of Kansas' plans to build a local pharmacy school to city and county leaders this week.

BY KAREN SHIDELER

The Wichita Eagle

The University of Kansas wants to open a pharmacy school in Wichita -- perhaps as early as the fall of 2008, according to a Wichita pharmacist -- to help meet an increasing demand for pharmacists, especially in south-central and western Kansas.

Jeanine Brizendine, past president of the Wichita Academy of Pharmacists, will update the Wichita City Council and the Sedgwick County Commission on KU's plans during their meetings Tuesday and Wednesday.

"There continues to be a serious shortage of pharmacists" in Kansas and nationally, she said. KU's School of Pharmacy in Lawrence gets four to five applicants for each student slot it has.

The Lawrence campus admits 105 students each year; a Wichita campus would start with 20 students.

Pharmacists hope that a Wichita campus would have an effect similar to the KU School of Medicine's Wichita campus -- many of its graduates stay in the area to practice, Brizendine said.

She said she won't be seeking any formal show of support from the two governing bodies this week. Her only intent is to update them on plans for the school, which were announced in July, and to tie the plans to the community's Visioneering goals and efforts to create and keep high-paying jobs in Wichita.

The biggest holdup for opening a pharmacy school is money: It would require about $4 million to add on space to the medical school. University officials have said they would seek a combination of private donations and state funding.

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