These final days of December are a good time for reflection on the year. With confidence, I can report to you that the College of Pharmacy has continued to advance every aspect of our mission of teaching, research and service, and without question, 2018 was another exceptional year for the College of Pharmacy.

 

Nationally and internationally, we are regarded as a preeminent college of pharmacy. The following are just two of the many accomplishments in 2018 by our faculty and our students, which support this well-earned reputation.

Our faculty received over $12 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health. We have tripled our research funding received over the last 10 years. For this most recent year, we ranked #10 among all 140 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the US. This is an outstanding accomplishment by the faculty, especially considering we have the smallest number of faculty among the top 30 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the US.

Here are links to a YouTube discussion about our research funding and a UNMC news story.

Research Funding

College of Pharmacy reaches research funding milestone

Our students similarly continue to excel. The graduating class of 2018 continued a now 33 year run of scoring above the national average on the national pharmacy licensing examination. The class of 2018 scored a first-time pass rate on the boards of 97%. And despite the academic rigors of pharmacy education, our students make time to serve the community - as just one of many examples, one of our current 4th year pharmacy student raised funds to start his own Foundation and enlisted his fellow pharmacy students to provide needed immunizations to homeless persons in Omaha. That tells you all you need to know about how good of hands our pharmacy profession will be in from this next generation of pharmacists.

 

We aren't resting on the laurels of the educational excellence of our teaching program - we are continuing to improve and innovate. We now provide all of our students iPads that have, for example, pharmacotherapy books, note taking apps and wellness apps. We continue our move to active learning in the classroom. Our digital learning initiatives are important to meet an objective for our students to be able to learn anytime, anywhere. We expanded our partnership with Nebraska Medicine this year, and added 7 new jointly-funded faculty in the area of ambulatory care. These faculty will provide new experiential rotations for our students and develop innovative models of pharmacy practice.

 

Dedication and commitment to excellence. These characteristics define our faculty, staff and students: dedicated to advancing the profession of pharmacy and to the mission of the College of Pharmacy, and committed to achieving excellence in everything we do. Let me take this opportunity for some Thank You notes.  

Thank You - to the faculty of the COP. I am continually impressed by your dedication to providing our students the best pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences education anywhere, and your commitment to the discovery and application of new knowledge to advance our profession.

Thank You - to the staff of the COP. You are vital to everything we do.

Thank You - to the students of the COP. You are fine individuals, and the pharmacy profession will be in good hands. It is a special pleasure, and indeed an honor, for me to be a member of this world class community of faculty, staff and students.

 

All of us at the College of Pharmacy are well aware of the legacy of academic and professional excellence established by our alumni. We are committed and motivated to honor, preserve and advance that legacy. The College of Pharmacy has approximately 450 volunteer preceptors across Nebraska. Many of these preceptors are our alumni and all are our friends. This network of preceptors is what allows us to be a 500-mile campus, and to provide our students the ability to complete their pharmacy practice experiences in Omaha to Kearney to Broken Bow and to Scottsbluff.

Thank You - to our alumni and friends. The College of Pharmacy is a much stronger institution because of your support.

 

You all know by now that I will complete my service as the 7th Dean of the College of Pharmacy on January 7, 2019. I have had a heck-of-a great run as dean, and one much smoother because of the collegiality, comradery, and support that I have received from the faculty, staff and students - and all of the alumni and friends of the College of Pharmacy. I want to extend my gratitude to all of you. And, on a personal note, Jean and I can't thank you all enough for the friendship and open arms you have extended to us since our move to Omaha.

 

Warmest wishes for Christmas and the New Year to you all. May the warmth and joy of this holiday season stay with you throughout 2019.