NEOMED New degree is offered in pharmacy administration

Staff report

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The Northeast Ohio Medical University College of Graduate Studies is offering a newly approved Master of Science/ Residency Program in health-system pharmacy administration.

This new degree program is designed for graduating pharmacy students or recent graduates who wish to build on their clinical competence to develop administrative, financial and leadership skills related to health-system administration, which will enable them to manage complex health-system pharmacy departments at the institutional and department levels.

“The nation is facing a significant shortage of health-system pharmacy executives, a situation that is compounded by a shortage of qualified pharmacy leaders to take their place,” said Mick L. Hunt Jr., program director for the new degree offering and vice chair of pharmacy administration and associate professor of pharmacy practice in the NEOMED College of Pharmacy.

“Master of Science/residency programs can play a critical role in filling this leadership gap, and our program is designed to address these national needs, as well as the needs of Northeast Ohio,” he said.

A first track of the two-year master’s degree will be completed at NEOMED with some courses at Cleveland State University Monte Ahuja College of Business.

A concurrent two-year specialized residency in pharmacy administration will be conducted at the Cleveland Clinic or Akron General Medical Center. A second track for the master’s degree only is offered to midcareer pharmacists practicing in hospitals and health systems in Northeast Ohio who want to pursue a master’s degree as a nontraditional student.

“The College of Graduate Studies continues to evolve and add new programs to our repertoire that meet the needs of health professionals in the region,” said Walter E. Horton Jr., Ph.D., dean of the College of Graduate Studies at NEOMED. “This new degree program will allow us to supply local health systems with pharmacy leaders who exhibit advanced-practice competence, business acumen and leadership skills to manage these complex services, ultimately providing patients with the best care and outcomes.”

For information about the program, visit www.neomed.edu/pharmadm.

Northeast Ohio Medical University, formerly known as the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM), is a community-based, public medical university with a mission to improve the quality of health care in Northeast Ohio working in collaboration with its educational and clinical partners.

With a focus on scientific and medical research, and the interprofessional training of health professionals that is unique to the state of Ohio, the University offers a doctor of medicine and a doctor of pharmacy degree, in addition to graduate-level coursework and research opportunities leading to master’s and doctoral degrees in other medical areas.

Northeast Ohio Medical University is a founding member of the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron. Visit www.neomed.edu.