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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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.”

Continue reading →

  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.

Continue reading →

Members of Belmont’s College of Pharmacy Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) walked in the Oct. 4 HIV/AIDs Walk and 5k benefiting Nashville Cares. For the third year in a row, SNPhA has raised more than $1,500 to benefit Nashville Cares. The entire College of Pharmacy contributed through a bake sale as well as individual fundraising efforts. Nashville Cares is a charitable organization that provides lifesaving services to Middle Tennesseans living with HIV/AIDS as well as offers education, prevention and awareness of HIV/AIDS. Continue reading →

  Dr. Cathy Ficzere, associate professor and director of drug information services, and Dr. Kinsley Kiningham, College of Pharmacy assistant dean of student affairs, recently completed the 2014 Chairs and Academic Administrators Management Program (CAAMP). The Academy for Academic Leadership (AAL) held the 2014 Chairs and Academic Administrators Management Program (CAAMP) this past summer at the Georgia Tech Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia. CAAMP is a top-notch leadership and management course designed specifically for department chairs and academic administrators within colleges and schools of the health professions. Since its inception in 2009, over 250 administrative leaders from institutions over the country have participated in CAAMP. Participants developed their leadership abilities through assessments and through peer feedback and individualized, professional coaching. Sessions included learning to lead, managing new tasks and challenges, faculty performance and assessment, strategic planning and budgeting, conflict management, work-life balance, and legal issues in academia.

Sixty-seven second year pharmacy students enrolled in Pharmaceutical Care II course became certified immunizers recently.  The course is taught by Dr. Elisa Greene and Dr. Alisa Spinelli.  Utilizing the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery program, students completed 20 hours of self-study, didactic, and skills-based training. Topics included vaccine preventable diseases, the role of pharmacists as vaccine advocates and administrators,  legal and regulatory issues, and injection technique. This is the 3rd year that students enrolled in the course have participated in the certification program. Continue reading →

Several faculty members from the College of Pharmacy made presentations at the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) held in Grapevine, Texas earlier this week.

Dr. Leigh Ann Bynum and Dr. Angela Hagan were co-presenters for a session entitled “Curricular Approaches to Active Learning”, which demonstrated different ways in which active learning techniques have been incorporated into pharmacy curricula.  Dr. Bynum and Dr. Hagan focused on the use of patient simulation technology in the classroom.  Dr. Scott Weston moderated the session which included presentations from two other pharmacy schools.  Dr. Weston is the incoming Chair of the AACP Curriculum special interest group and was recently appointed to the Editorial Review Board for the AACP Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE).

Dr. Hagan also joined with Dr. Hope Campbell to speak at a session on “Reviving the Meaning and Perceptions of Being a Minority Faculty Member”.  In addition, Drs. Hagan and Campbell presented a poster entitled “Where’s the Minority Representation? State of Affairs in Academic Pharmacy”.  Dr. Campbell is the incoming Chair of the AACP Minority Faculty special interest group.

Dr. Ashton Beggs presented a poster titled “Student Perceptions of Inter-Professional Collaboration through Geriatric Case Training”.  This poster was a report prepared by Dr. Beggs, who worked with faculty in the Meharry Consortium Geriatric Education Center, to produce a day long training session for students in nursing, social work, physical therapy, dietetics, medicine and pharmacy.  Dr. Beggs also made a poster presentation with Dr. Alisa Spinelli on “Student Preference for Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Presentation Modalities”.

Dr. Edgar Diaz-Cruz, assistant professor of Pharmacy, was recently published in the journal. Frontiers in Oncology, for research he and his colleagues conducted on human pancreatic cancer.   The study, entitled Human pancreatic cancer-associated stellate cells remain activated after in vivo chemoradiation, showed that human tumor-derived pancreatic stellate cells survive both in vivo chemo- and radiotherapy. The data supports the idea that stellate cells play an essential role in supporting and promoting pancreatic cancer and may lead to new treatments targeting the pancreatic tumor microenvironment.  The team included researchers from the National Cancer Informatics Program, the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, the University of Texas, the German Research Center for Environmental Health, and ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

Dr. Condit Steil, professor of Pharmacy,  Dr. Mark Chirico, a former faculty member in the College of Pharmacy, and Dr. Richard Thompson from Lipscomb University have co-authored a manuscript accepted for print publication in August by Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning.  The article describes the implementation and first two years of follow-up of a novel interprofessional program which includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing at Vanderbilt University, the Social Work Department at Tennessee State University, the College of Pharmacy at Lipscomb University, and the College of Pharmacy at Belmont University.  The study suggests positive benefits, as well as some areas for improvement, of interprofessional students working together in experiential settings and provides a format for other institutions to follow.  The article is available electronically by clicking here.

This past weekend, Belmont College of Pharmacy students teamed up with Walgreens and Nashville Cares to administer free HIV tests at Walgreens locations around Middle Tennessee. The free testing was part of the Greater Than AIDS campaign and was in honor of National HIV Testing Day. The students participating in the event were members of the Belmont chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) who had completed HIV testing and counseling training with Nashville Cares and become certified in the Spring. SNPhA plans to offer the training to its other members during the upcoming school year. SNPhA hopes to maintain their partnership with Nashville Cares so that they can continue to serve their community through HIV education and early detection.

Erin L. Wikle, assistant to the dean in the College of Pharmacy, has published an article on new Tennessee legislation impacting women who use narcotic drugs while pregnant. The law, effective July 1, states that a woman can be prosecuted for assault if she takes a narcotic drug while pregnant and the baby is born addicted, is harmed or dies as a result. Wikle discusses services offered by The Salvation Army in Tennessee to support both the mother and effected family members. She also proposes key questions that result from the controversy of the legislation. Click here to read the article.

Continue reading →

The Nashville Business Journal has named Dr. Phil Johnston, dean of Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, as a Health Care Hero. Winners were selected for their contributions to Music City’s health community by a panel of industry judges. Johnston was recognized in the “Health Care Professional Services” category along with other local leaders, including Anne Sumpter Arney of Bone McAllister Norton PLLC, Vicki Estrin of C3/Consulting, Berry Holt of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Rosemary Plorin of Lovell Communications, Jerry Taylor of Stites & Harbison PLLC and Tommy Yeager of M.J. Harris Construction Services. The honorees will be recognized at an awards luncheon on June 6 at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel and in a special publication in the June 6 print edition of the Nashville Business Journal.  The luncheon celebrates “the accomplishments of the leaders, innovators, strategists and caretakers, whose work is helping to grow the region’s health care industry and reinforcing Nashville as the health care capital of the nation.”  Belmont University School of Nursing professor Jane Shelby was recognized as a Health Care Hero in 2009.

Fourth-year pharmacy students William Herbert and Myduy Nguyen, along with pharmacy faculty member Dr. Ashton Beggs, recently attended a Hepatitis C Training Workshop. This intensive one-day training provided attendees with knowledge and tools to go into their communities and educate others about Hepatitis C. Topics covered in this workshop include the liver, Hepatitis C transmission, prevention, diagnosis, symptoms, disease progression and management as well as medical treatment.

In 2001, the Hepatitis C Support Project (HCSP) conducted a broad needs assessment for hepatitis C awareness and education. The HCSP determined the most needed resource was a quality hepatitis C educational process that could be widely distributed and utilized throughout underserved communities affected by hepatitis C. To accomplish this objective, HCSP designed a program that covers awareness and education in a training workshop environment. The goal of this program is to provide unbiased and quality education to individuals who can then educate their respective communities on the virus. Continue reading →

Mary-Martin Johnson is recognized by Dr. Philip Johnston, Dean of the College of Pharmacy

Fourth-year pharmacy student, Mary-Martin Johnson, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, recently received the United States Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Practice Award.  Johnson was presented the aware by Dr. Chris Lamer, a clinical informaticist with the Indian Health Services.   The U.S. Public Health Service created the program to encourage student pharmacists to become active in public health issues.  The annual award recognizes student pharmacists who have demonstrated a commitment to public health and public health practice across America.

Johnson was recognized for her work in the American Pharmaceutical Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) chapter within Belmont’s College of Pharmacy.  She has served as operation heart chairwoman and patient care coordinator for the organization. Through her efforts sustainable contributions to organizations such as the Barren Plains Hispanic Ministry have been initiated in the last few years. The APhA-ASP chapter has provided migrant workers free blood glucose and blood pressure screenings as well as patient education regarding diabetes and hypertension. In addition, the APhA-ASP chapter provided influenza immunizations to the migrant workers. Additionally, as service chairwoman within the Class of 2015, she has worked with The Little Pantry That Could.  The nonprofit organization that provides food and healthcare services to the homeless population in west Nashville.  Without a doubt, Johnson embodies the mission of the United States Public Health Service.  Through her efforts as a student pharmacist, numerous lives have been changed.