Pharmacy schools hot in Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Responding to a growing demand for pharmacists, Belmont University will open a pharmacy school next year. So will Lipscomb University. And Union University.

Among those three schools and East Tennessee State University, which opened its school in January, the state could go from having one pharmacy school to five in just a year and a half, which begs the question: Will the shortage of pharmacists become a glut?

The number of pharmacy schools nationwide already has increased from 84 to 101 in the past five years, said Lucinda Maine, executive vice president of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and more schools are planned -- not just in Tennessee.

But Tennessee is unique in the rapid increase of schools planned.

"Going from one school to five schools in a year or two years is really unprecedented," she said. "That's not happening any place else."

Jennifer Athay, associate director of student development at the American Pharmacists Association, said, "I know there have been some discussions within the pharmacy profession about, 'OK. When is it going to be too much?'"

The new dean of Lipscomb's College of Pharmacy in Nashville said that is a fair question, but he doesn't think Tennessee has reached that point.

"There's a huge need for health care services ... that's going to drive the need for pharmacists in the foreseeable future," Roger Davis said.

The former assistant dean for Middle Tennessee at the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy in Memphis said the baby boomers are aging, but also living longer and will need medical care for many years to come. Also, drug innovations mean more problems can be treated with medication.

Tennessee has a shortage of about 1,060 pharmacists and 157,000 are needed nationally, according to a Belmont news release.

David S. Dockery, president of Union University in Jackson, said despite the other new programs, he thinks Union graduates will be able to find work as pharmacists.

"The shortage -- from all the statistics -- is great," he said. "At least for the next 10 years, I don't see any saturation point."

ETSU dean Larry Calhoun was even more optimistic. The Johnson City school's mission is to train pharmacists to work in rural communities where Calhoun said he thinks there will always be a need.

Belmont officials in Nashville would not comment for this story, but referred to its media release sent Tuesday announcing its new program.

In the release Jack Bovender, CEO of Nashville-based Hospital Corporation of America, made a case for the pharmacy school.

"With over 80 million baby boomers not only in growing need of health care, but retiring from the health care industry, there are huge demands for health care professionals that we have to meet somehow," he said.

Source