School of Pharmacy opens third site in Springfield
One of the newest additions to the University of Missouri-Kansas City is a three-hour drive south to Springfield.
The UMKC School of Pharmacy at Missouri State University opened this past week in a transformed historic Brick City building. This is the third site for the school’s PharmD program, the practice-level degree for pharmacists.
The new site allows students to register in the UMKC School of Pharmacy program but complete coursework on the Missouri State campus. This university partnership allows students to take the same courses and earn the same UMKC degree as their counterparts in Kansas City and Columbia.
UMKC School of Pharmacy Dean Russell Melchert said the expansion is a targeted effort to address a shortage of healthcare providers, including pharmacists, in rural Missouri. UMKC graduate placement data suggests regional academic programs are an effective way to attract and retain healthcare workers in rural Missouri. It’s essential that UMKC help fill that need, Melchert said, given that it offers the only public pharmacy program in Missouri.
The Springfield site is being modeled after the UMKC School of Pharmacy at the University of Missouri in Columbia, which opened in 2005. A majority of the graduates from the Columbia site took positions in nonmetropolitan and rural areas of Missouri. Students there call themselves “Tigeroos,” a hybrid of the universities’ mascots, and take part in community service and extracurricular activities offered by both, including the Marching Mizzou band.
In Springfield, whether they’re the Roo Bears or Bear Roos remains to be seen. In addition to attending classes, students are electing class officers and becoming acquainted with the new program. They threw a surprise 50th birthday celebration for Paul Gubbins, associate dean of the UMKC School of Pharmacy in Springfield, which involved an ALS ice bucket challenge.
“The enthusiasm is off the charts. Students have been snapping selfies and creating virtual tours of the building for family and friends,” Gubbins said. “The new site is a tremendous opportunity for Springfield. Everyone here is excited.”
Springfield offers two major healthcare systems and several pharmacies that will provide students with clinical learning experiences during coursework. The region also can support graduates with high-quality jobs after they earn their degrees.
The UMKC students in Springfield are taking classes inside a renovated building situated in the historic Brick City district near the main Missouri State campus. The district already houses several Missouri State classrooms and work spaces. It’s within walking distance of several downtown restaurants and residential lofts.
The 15,000-square-foot classroom space at Missouri State includes three video-conference-equipped classrooms that support the synchronous transmission of classes among the Kansas City, Columbia and Springfield sites. The videoconference technology provides a stable electronic connection that ensures students and faculty can communicate reliably without fear of technological disruptions. It also allows students to interact with professors and other students during lectures regardless of their location.
Students at the Springfield site are officially registered at UMKC but they have access to select courses at Missouri State as well as its student health facility, library, fitness center and more.
“The Missouri State leadership and faculty have done an outstanding job to make our students’ experience wonderful,” Gubbins said.
Classes began with 30 first-year students. The program will add more staff each year as each new class of 30 students is added. The site will reach full enrollment in fall 2017 with a total of 120 students over the four years of the program, approved by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.
“The students are eager to be involved in the community,” said Heather Lyons-Burney, clinical assistant professor in Springfield. “They’re already working with pharmacies on National Drug Take Back Day, which happens in the fall and spring. They’re looking for collaborative opportunities with the Missouri State art and design students who are in the same building. I’m encouraged and proud about how they want to serve the people of Springfield.”