Pharmacy Colleges
Pharmacy schools rally to buoy Xavier, ULMJames Frederick ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Virtually the entire pharmacy education community has rallied to support two hard-hit colleges of pharmacy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
More than 90 pharmacy schools have offered assistance to the two schools, Xavier University College of Pharmacy and the University of Louisiana at Monroe College of Pharmacy. That help is being coordinated by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and includes the sharing of alternate classroom space and fourth-year pharmacy practice sites.
Xavier was the hardest hit, with the entire university closed until January, following the flooding of the campus after New Orleans levies failed. Many of the school's buildings were under 6 feet of water, according to AACP, and school officials may be forced to seek another location when classes do resume.
The ULM College of Pharmacy, on the other hand, remains open. But its satellite offices were flooded, and nearly 40 percent of its fourth-year pharmacy students face the disruption of their experiential rotations because their practice sites were in facilities in and around New Orleans.
AACP is coordinating various offers from pharmacy schools that range from placing fourth-year students at alternate facilities to complete their practice rotations to allowing them to enroll in classes at their institutions until Xavier resumes operations.
"Based on this support, I am extremely confident that our institution and our college of pharmacy will recover and grow stronger from this catastrophe," noted Wayne Harris, Ph.D., dean of Xavier's college of pharmacy, in an e-mail.
Until Xavier is operational, officials have set up an alternate Web site, www.xulaemergency.com, featuring updates and information for faculty and students. Specific information on the college of pharmacy can be found at www.xulaemergency.com/cop.html.
Despite the disruption, faculty and staff at ULM have been active in setting up emergency pharmacy services. The college set up pharmacies at the New Orleans Superdome, Convention Center and at the infirmary on campus to serve evacuees.
Additional information on efforts to assist the affected colleges of pharmacy can be found at www.aacp.org.
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