The University of Arizona welcomed 23 doctoral pharmacy students to the Phoenix Biomedical Campus on Aug. 22 as classes started at the College of Pharmacy’s new downtown location.
These students will join 88 other pharmacy students in Tucson to form the class of 2020.
The plan to include a downtown location as a part of the University of Arizona’s doctor of pharmacy program dates back to the opening of the Phoenix Biomedical Campus in 2007.
“Phoenix was the largest city without an academic health science program so we wanted a comprehensive program here in Phoenix,” associate dean of the UA College of Pharmacy Philip Schneider said. “We thought pharmacy should be a part of that.”
That plan has now come to fruition nine years later. The project was stalled when the economy slowed down and Arizona State University backed out of the partnership.
“When Arizona State decided not to participate, that left the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University as the only partners,” Schneider said. “So when you take out a third of the participation, that decreases the effort and makes it hard to continue and even complete the project. So we had to make the program smaller and it took more time to complete.”
The college stuck with the plan to open a new location as the school felt it was important to offer an option in Phoenix. According to a statement from the University of Arizona Health Sciences, almost 75 percent of students who applied to the school have addresses in the metro area.
“My family is from the Glendale area,” student Thao Nguyen said. “I know that even if I finished in Tucson I would want to be back in Phoenix for my career and to work.”
UA was student Chelsea Drake’s first choice for pharmacy school, but she said the Phoenix location was still a deciding factor.
“My whole family is in the valley,” Drake said. “I grew up in Mesa, so it’s easier and better for me to have a support system nearby.”
Schneider said even though the UA College of Pharmacy now has two locations, it only has one accreditation so the doctor of pharmacy program provides opportunities and comparable learning options across both campuses. The curriculum is the same at both locations.
The UA College of Pharmacy achieves this through synchronized learning systems and videoconferencing technologies that allow students in Tucson and Phoenix to take the same class at the same time.
“Each class has video cameras,” Drake said. “Tucson broadcasts to us. Then the professor has a microphone so we’re able to hear pretty clearly.”
All students and professors wear microphones so that everyone can communicate with each other during class. Nguyen said Phoenix students can see the PowerPoint slides, the professor and the Tucson class on the screen. As students adjust to the new classroom style, they are giving feedback to help improve the program for future students.
“There’s so much opportunity because we are pioneers,” Nguyen said. “We’re really encouraged to make it what we want in Phoenix since we are the first class.”
The UA College of Pharmacy plans to grow the Phoenix location in the coming years. The Biomedical Campus will admit another class of students next year and the year after. Schneider said they plan on having approximately 75 pharmacy students at the Phoenix location by 2018.
Contact the reporter at Stephanie.M.Morse@asu.edu.
