Associate Dean and Professor of the College of Pharmacy Dr. Kelley Kiningham has served the College since 2009 and since then has acquired a number of accolades including the Presidential Faculty Achievement Award in 2013 and the Most Influential Faculty Member designation by the class of 2013.

Most recently, Dr. Kiningham continued her direct contribution to student success by establishing the Warren E. Angel Pharmaceutical Education Endowed Scholarship, named in honor of her late grandfather who significantly contributed to Dr. Kiningham’s life. The scholarship has been designed to support student pharmacists in good academic standing who attended Middle Tennessee State University, Dr. Kiningham’s alma mater.

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Two faculty members in the College of Pharmacy have been published recently in Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, a professional journal for pharmacy education.

Dr.  Alisa Spinelli, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy, had a manuscript published earlier this year entitled, “Assessing the Value of a Pharmacy Student First Aid Volunteer Experience at a Large Venue Sporting Event”.  The article was written with co-authors, Dr. Randell Doty and Dr. Melonie Stanton from the University of Florida.  Their research assessed the perceived value to pharmacy students in volunteering at first aid stations during University of Florida home football games.   The study concluded that the volunteer opportunity significantly improved the confidence of pharmacy student participants in providing patient care activities and recognizing patients who were experiencing a medical emergency.

In November, Dr. Tracy Frame, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy, published an article entitled, “Student perceptions of a Self-Care course taught exclusively by team-based learning and utilizing Twitter”, which was co-written with Dr. Kelly Wright and Dr. Melody Hartzler from Cedarville University in Ohio.  The objective of their research was to assess student perceptions of the use of team-based learning (TBL) and Twitter in an Introduction to Self-Care course.  Overall, their study revealed TBL use in the course as favorable, but course improvements were needed, such as increasing the course to three credit hours and reshaping the use of social media to better engage students in discussion beyond the classroom.

Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Dr. Anthony Blash was recently selected as one of 13 professionals featured in the 2014 publication of Careers in Health Information Technology, a health information technology (HIT) textbook by Brian T. Malec.

The text describes the depth and breadth of job opportunities and careers currently available in HIT and helps readers enter and advance within the expanding field. Blash is featured in the chapter, “HIT Careers in the Education and Training Sector.”

L to R: Julio Cezar Parreira Durte (Caceres secretary for tourism,) Dr. Domingos Savio Da Cunha Garcia & Acir Montecchi (UNEMAT professors of history) and Dr. Eric Hobson (Belmont University College of Pharmacy professor)

Dr. Eric Hobson, professor in Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, was the featured scholar at the “Colόquio Internacional: Matto Grosso Expedition (1931)” recently held in Cáceres, Brazil by the Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT).

His seminar, “Why Descalvados? Mato Grosso Expeditions Between the Wars,” helped to fill gaps in the Brazilian historical record about non-Brazilian scientific exploration activity along Brazil’s western frontier in the early twentieth century.

Dr. Hobson joined UNEMAT history faculty and graduate students on a two-day research trip down the Paraguay River to Fazenda Descalvados — the largest ranch in the western hemisphere during the early 1900s — which served as base camp for many exploration/scientific teams from the United States, including the Theodore Roosevelt/Colonel Rondon Expedition of 1914.

Professor and Dean of the College of Pharmacy Phil Johnston was recently named as one of Nashville Health Council’s 2015 Fellows, the third class of its kind. The class is made up of leaders from all aspects of Nashville’s health care field including bankers, lawmakers, health care providers and management professionals.

One of the class’s 36 participants, Johnston will be part of the Council’s largest class to date. In 2013, the inaugural class graduated 33 participants and in 2014, the class graduated 32 participants.

“The 2015 Fellows include some of the industry’s best and brightest leaders with experience and industry focus spanning all sectors of health care,” said U.S. Senate Majority Bill Frist, who co-directs the initiative with Larry Van Horn, a leading expert in health care management and economics, and professor at Vanderbilt University. “These individuals have a challenging task ahead, and I look forward to the meaningful discussion and debate on our nation’s health care that will come from our rigorous curriculum.”

For more information on this program and the Nashville Health Care Council, click here.

Throughout the fall, fourth year pharmacy students led educational classes at Room In The Inn (RITI), a community of participants, guests, volunteers and staff who work together to offer hope to Nashville’s homeless population. RITI serves more than 4,000 individuals each year – some for only a day, while others for months to years.

Dr. Ashton Beggs, faculty member in the College of Pharmacy, teaches fourth year students at United Neighborhood Health Services (UNHS) Mission Clinic. This clinic provides interdisciplinary primary care services to the homeless population of Nashville. Many of the UNHS clinic patients utilize RITI’s programming for a sense of community and as a ladder to get back on their feet.

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New program equips graduates for rapid career success, advancement

Starting in fall 2015, prospective pharmacists can pursue the only dual PharmD/MBA degree available in Middle Tennessee at Belmont University in Nashville, the nation’s healthcare capital. Unlike similar programs around the country that require a minimum of five years’ study or offer MBA courses primarily online, Belmont PharmD/MBA students can complete all the requirements for both degrees within four years and will enjoy Belmont’s signature personal interaction from experienced, highly regarded faculty. Moreover, students can complete the degree at a reduced tuition from doing the programs separately.

“The modern practice of pharmacy is constantly evolving, and now—more than ever before—it’s imperative that new PharmD graduates also enter the workforce with a strong business acumen,” said Dr. Phil Johnston, dean of Belmont’s College of Pharmacy. “Regardless of whether a graduate works in a retail, institutional or research site, they must possess robust entrepreneurial skills in business forecasting, employee management, corporate finance and more. A PharmD/MBA dual degree is a timely addition to Belmont’s offerings.”

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  Belmont University College of Pharmacy recently hosted an interactive and innovative certificate program for pharmacists entitled “Delivering Medication Therapy Management (MTM) Services.” Developed by the American Pharmacists Association, the training program explores the pharmacist’s role in providing medication therapy management services to patients.

The goals of the certificate training program are to advance public health and patient care through improved medication use, provide training to enhance pharmacists’ ability to effectively provide MTM services, motivate increased numbers of pharmacists to establish MTM services, and communicate benchmark practices for providing MTM services. Thirty pharmacists- from New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee- attended the one-day training session led by College of Pharmacy faculty members Dr. Traci Poole and Dr. Ashton Beggs.

The College of Pharmacy’s student American Pharmacists Association (APhA) chapter, advised by Dr. Traci Poole, had 20 attendees at the annual Midyear Regional Meeting, held in Atlanta, Georgia, Oct. 24-26. Student pharmacists participated in various professional development activities and networking events with students from 24 schools and colleges throughout the southeast.

The festivities were kicked off when second-year pharmacy student Kayla Hill was announced as Belmont’s Student Membership Recognition winner due to her work as Fundraising Chair. Belmont second-year student Kathryn Litten participated in the Prescription Relay Race, where she worked with three other student pharmacists from different schools in filling, verifying and counseling a “patient” regarding their prescription.

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