ATLANTA – Southern School of Pharmacy of Mercer University is one of only two private pharmacy schools selected to compete in the national Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Competition of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) and the Foundation for Managed Care Pharmacy (FMCP). The program is designed to challenge students to gain a real-world perspective on the formulary management process, which helps managed health care systems achieve the challenging goals of controlling costs and improving the quality of care.
Third-year doctor of pharmacy students Adina Hirsch of Atlanta, Ga., Chris Jones of Macon, Ga., Janet McGuire of Stavanger, Norway, and Justin Strickland of Cartersville, Ga., will represent the Southern School of Pharmacy’s student chapter of AMCP at the April annual meeting in Denver, Colo.
“FMCP and AMCP staff and the National Selection Committee were very impressed with the quality of work submitted by Mercer and the other student chapter teams,” said Richard N. Fry, director of programs for FMCP. “This is a great opportunity for students to gain real-world exposure to the AMCP Format for Formulary Submissions and manufacturer product dossiers, and to engage in the type of clinical and economic analyses they will soon encounter.”
The Mercer students will compete against teams from Loma Linda University (Calif.), The Ohio State University, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Maryland, University of Pittsburgh, University of California at San Francisco and University of Southern California. The first place team and faculty advisor will attend the 2005 AMCP Educational Conference in Nashville, Tenn., where the P&T Competition sponsor will formally award the team members their engraved plaque.
About Mercer University and the Southern School of Pharmacy:
Mercer University’s Southern School of Pharmacy has a century-long tradition of excellence and a national reputation for producing outstanding leaders in the profession of pharmacy. In September 1981, Southern School of Pharmacy became the first pharmacy school in the Southeast and fifth in the nation to offer the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) as its sole professional degree. The School also offers the Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences. Pharmacists from Mercer are currently practicing in 43 states and in several foreign countries.
Founded in 1833, Mercer University has campuses in Macon and Atlanta as well as three regional academic centers. With 10 schools and colleges, the University offers programs in liberal arts, business, engineering, education, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, law and theology. For 15 consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report has named Mercer University as one of the leading universities in the South.
