Pharmacy Administration Program Being Renamed

New 'Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy' Name to Reflect Research Focus of New Department Within College 

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has given approval to renaming the Pharmacy Administration graduate degree programs to Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy to reflect the research focus of the new college department of the same name.

The change is intended to position the new department, its faculty and students, and their education and research activities on the national priority of providing patients, clinicians and policymakers with the scientific evidence to make informed health decisions.  

The Pharmacy Administration degree was first awarded by the college in 2003, and was itself the retooled successor to the master's degree in Pharmacy/Hospital Pharmacy degree awarded from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. The college's Ph.D. in Pharmacy Administration was launched in 2009 and has graduated seven students who've secured lucrative research positions in academia and the pharmaceutical industry. The phase-out of the Pharmacy Administration name will affect the both the doctoral and master's graduate programs (the latter only available through the collaborative M.S./PGY1-PGY2 residency program with six Texas Medical Center institutions). The degree name change is expected to be phased in by Fall 2014.  

In December, UHCOP Dean F. Lamar Pritchard announced the creation of the new department comprising eight faculty members and chaired by Professor Rajender R. Aparasu, Ph.D., FAPhA, (see announcement here). 

"The new name is a more accurate reflection of what we do in teaching, research and service, which is to improve health outcomes for individuals and populations," Aparasu said.