Monthly Archives: March 2019

Belmont, Lipscomb Colleges of Pharmacy Partner to Build, Support Honduran Pharmacy

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Jovenes Project

Belmont University and Lipscomb University Colleges of Pharmacy have recently announced a collaborative partnership with Jovenes en Camino to build and support a locally-run pharmacy in El Zamorano, Honduras. A Nashville-based nonprofit, Jovenes en Camino is a boys home and clinic in Honduras that doesn’t currently have access to the essential services provided by a pharmacy. Students and faculty from Belmont and Lipscomb are teaming up to provide a creative solution to that challenge.

This collaborative partnership will allow students and faculty from both pharmacy programs to travel to Honduras throughout the year to provide services to local residents, beginning as soon as Summer 2019. Teams will be comprised in a variety of ways including interprofessional teams that will include students in pharmacy, nursing, nutrition, PA and other health-related disciplines, and inter-university teams, comprised of faculty and students from both institutions. Beyond pharmaceutical care, this interprofessional partnership will also include additional healthcare providers as nursing, medical and other health-related programs will accompany pharmacists for travel.

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Interior Design, Occupational Therapy Students Partner to Improve Local Family’s Home

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OT and OMore Collaboration

Students in the O’More School of Design’s Interior Design program may be used to frequent client meetings and conversations surrounding the most effective layouts of homes, but this semester they have found themselves doing different work, entirely. Thanks to a collaboration with the School of Occupational Therapy, students in both programs have joined efforts to work alongside the Trotters, a local family whose 9-year-old daughter Joy has a number of disabilities that limit her mobility and access throughout the home.

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Belmont Pharmacy AI Team Project Featured in Internationally Recognized Pharmacy Education Publication

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The Belmont University College of Pharmacy student A.I. team’s Artificial Intelligence Software for Amazon Alexa was the subject of an article in the February 2019 issue of Academic Pharmacy Now, the news magazine of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

Founded in 1900, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) is the national organization representing pharmacy education in the United States. The mission of AACP is to lead and partner with members in advancing pharmacy education, research, scholarship, practice and service to improve societal health. The association is comprised of all accredited colleges and schools with pharmacy degree programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.

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Belmont PT Students Go to Capitol Hill

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The Belmont Doctoral Physical Therapy Class of 2020 was given an opportunity to learn first-hand about legislation and its effect on health care. On Friday, March 8, Dr. Natalie Michaels, professor in the College of Health Sciences, brought her Health Care Systems Class to meet Dr. Joe Black, the legislative committee co-chair for the Tennessee Physical Therapy Association (TPTA).

He introduced the class to Lobbyists Lou Alsobrooks and Estie Harris who spoke about their work with Congress and the Senate to support the physical therapy profession. Black also spoke to the students at length about physical therapy, the importance of staying involved and his role with the TPTA. He then led the group on a tour of the grounds.

“The students were engaged and extremely professional. I’m humbled and proud to be able to be part of the prestigious faculty-team who teach these amazing men and women,” Michaels said.

Belmont Pharmacy Graduates Excel on Licensure Exams

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The results are in, and graduates of Belmont University College of Pharmacy have beaten the national average once again. After graduating with their Doctor of Pharmacy degree, students must pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) to become licensed to practice pharmacy. This exam is focused on in-depth knowledge of drugs and their proper therapeutic uses. For Belmont graduates taking the NAPLEX in 2018, 93.4 percent passed on their first attempt; the remainder passed on their second attempt. This beats the national average for all first-time takers of 89.5 percent on this exam and the Tennessee average of 90 percent.
The Multistate Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE) is another required licensure exam in most states, including Tennessee. The MPJE is focused on the laws governing the practice of pharmacy. All Belmont graduates taking the MPJE for Tennessee in 2018 passed on their first attempt. Among students taking the exam out-of-state, 89 percent passed on their first attempt. This compares to a national average pass rate of 85 percent, overall.

“We are extremely proud of the hard work put in by our students and faculty,” said David Gregory, dean of the College of Pharmacy. “These results come from many years of careful preparation. Not every school of pharmacy can point to the consistent results we see year after year. We are thankful for that.”

Belmont’s graduates have beaten the national average pass rate on the NAPLEX exam every year since 2013. They have exceeded the average on the MPJE five of the last six years.

Belmont Graduate Nursing Students Earn 100 Percent Pass Rate on FNP Certification Exam for 15th Straight Year

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For the 15th year in a row, all graduates pass certification exam on first attempt

All 30 December graduates of Belmont’s Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) program for Family Nurse Practitioners (FNPs) passed the national certification exam on their first attempt. The most recent class of 30 graduates, which is the College’s largest-to-date, passed the exam this spring, making this the 15th consecutive year of 100 percent first-attempt success and earning a spot well above the national average passing rate of 80 percent.

The School of Nursing began offering its MSN degree more than 20 years ago and with the addition of the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in 2012, Belmont’s health sciences graduate programs continue to grow. Prepared to practice in a variety of settings, FNPs provide primary health care to families and individuals across the lifespan. Belmont graduate nursing alumni practice in a wide range of settings including primary care, pediatrics, genetics, urology and public health.

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Pharmacy Student Presents at Health Information Management System Society Global Conference

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Angelina Babakitis, a Doctor of Pharmacy student in the pharmacy informatics focus track at the Belmont University College of Pharmacy, recently presented a poster at the Health Information Management System Society (HIMSS) 2019 Global Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The poster, entitled “Enhancing pharmacist intervention effectiveness by implementing custom clinical decision support,” was authored by Babakitis, PharmD Candidate 2020, Wesley Geminn, PharmD, BCPP and Erica Schlesinger, PharmD. It describes the development of clinical decision support (CDS) tools to aid pharmacists when verifying medication orders for pregnant patients at four state-funded regional mental health institutes.

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Dr. Voight Serves as Invited Faculty Member at Annual Scandinavian Congress

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Dr, Mike Voight, professor in Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy, was recently an invited faculty member at the Annual Scandinavian Congress of Medicine & Science in Sports. The aim of this Congress is to create contact between physiotherapists working in sports and physical activity, provide training, share knowledge and create working relationships with other professionals with the same interest.

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Ability App Inventor Alex Knoll Works Alongside Belmont Occupational Therapy Students

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App inventor presents to class, teams up with OTD student for Experiential Component 

Students in the Occupational Therapy Doctoral (OTD) Program and the O’More School of Design spoke with 14-year-old inventor, Alex Knoll, about a new tool called Ability App during a class earlier this week. OTD instructors Dr. Teresa Plummer and Dr. Missy Bryan and O’More instructor Jayme Jacobson joined students for the presentation as part of the OT/Interior Design collaboration. The students had the opportunity to discuss specific details regarding the app via Skype. The meeting came two years after Knoll first debuted his app to the world on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

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Belmont Pharmacy AI Team Featured on ‘Talk to Your Pharmacist’ Podcast

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Belmont University College of Pharmacy student A.I. team’s Artificial Intelligence Software for Amazon Alexa was the subject of the “Talk to Your Pharmacist” podcast earlier this month.

The podcast is for pharmacists, student pharmacists and others across the country to hear from industry leaders about their leadership stories and current healthcare topics. Talk to Your Pharmacist was founded and hosted by pharmacist Dr. Hillary Blackburn.

In this conversation, Blackburn and Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Dr. Anthony Blash discuss the intersection of health care and technology, the groundbreaking work done using AI and Amazon Alexa by the Informatics students in Belmont’s program and how current clinicians can successfully transition into an informatics role in their workplace.

The episode can be found on Itunes and Spotify.