ATLANTA — Melissa Denno and Destin Sampson, both third-year Doctor of Pharmacy students in Mercer University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, have been selected for prestigious summer internships sponsored by the Foundation for Managed Care Pharmacy (FMCP) in collaboration with the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP). Denno and Sampson were among 12 students interviewed from a national applicant pool for the highly competitive internships and ended up taking both slots — the first time the internships have gone to students from the same institution.
The goal of the AMCP/FMCP/Allergan Inc. Specialized Summer Internship Program is to enhance a student pharmacist’s knowledge of managed care pharmacy practice principles and health outcomes research by direct hands-on involvement at managed health care system and health outcomes research experiential sites. The programs also expose them to career options in health plans, pharmacy benefit management companies, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the pharmaceutical industry.
The selection process is highly competitive. To be eligible for the AMCP/FMCP Summer Internship Programs, a student must be enrolled full-time in their second or third professional year at an ACPE-accredited school or college of pharmacy during the 2009-2010 academic year, with anticipated graduation in 2011 or 2012 with a Pharm.D. degree.
About the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Founded in 1903, the independent Southern School of Pharmacy merged with Mercer University in 1959. It became the first school in the Southeast to offer the Doctor of Pharmacy degree as its sole professional degree in 1981. In addition to the Doctor of Pharmacy, the college has one of the largest concentrations of Ph.D. students in pharmaceutics among colleges of pharmacy in the United States. In 2008, the college introduced a Physician Assistant program and will offer a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in the fall 2010.
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,000 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at three regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with two teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
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