Schools seek cure for pharmacist shortage

5 state universities plan to open new programs or expand existing ones

By DARREN DUNLAP, dunlapd@knews.com
May 1, 2007

A shortage of pharmacists has five Tennessee universities moving forward this year with plans for new schools and expansions to train more graduates.

The University of Tennessee nears completion of an expansion to its college of pharmacy building in Knoxville for fall 2007.

Dean of the College of Pharmacy Dick R. Gourley, who said there's a shortage of pharmacists in the state, toured the site on the University of Tennessee Medical Center campus Monday. The expansion is on two floors, totals 15,000 square feet, and appears to be coming in on time and budget, he said.

The expansion will allow UT to expand the College of Pharmacy's classes from 125 doctoral students to 200 per year.

Steve Ross, senior vice president for strategic development at UTMC, said UT pharmacy students have trained at the medical center for 20 years. He said it's harder to recruit pharmacy graduates now. The number of pharmacy students has increased, but so has demand for health-care services, he said.

The expansion will allow pharmacy students to take the second, third and fourth years of their doctoral studies, including clinical rotations, at UT's site in Knoxville.

All students will do their first year in Memphis at UT's Health Sciences campus, which recently began construction of an 184,000-square-foot building, Gourley said.

"East Tennessee is going to get some of the best and brightest pharmacy students early on," Ross said.

He said he hopes that means more will take pharmacy positions in East Tennessee once they graduate.

Union University in Jackson, and Belmont University and David Lipscomb University in Nashville, announced plans this year to open pharmacy schools.

East Tennessee State University held an inaugural ceremony in January marking the opening of its school. The school's mission is to train pharmacists for rural, underserved populations.

Larry Calhoun, ETSU's college of pharmacy dean, said many of the students in the university's program come from within 100 miles of the university.

The average class will have about 80 graduates, he said.

"I'm confident the market will support the number of graduates," Calhoun said.

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