It will be sad to not all be together next week!!
¡Hola!
Después de tres días largos pero gratificantes, ha cambiado un poco el ritmo de hoy. Fuimos a la plantación de café de Pablo, La Azotea, para una clínica abierta a los trabajadores. Tuvimos que ver a los pacientes rápidamente hoy para que pudieran volver al trabajo. ¡Fue increíble tener todo el groupo unido para otro día lleno cuidado interdisciplinario de pacientes.
Who wouldn’t love starting your day with this sight!?
Today was day four! We have made it to the middle of our trip… boy how things have truly fallen into place. Every day it feels as though we grow more familiar and aware of our surroundings, but I don’t know if we will ever get use to this view!!!! [The picture doesn’t do this scenery justice!]
A final picture with students and staff at Keramion.
It was a great day all the way around today!
Our morning routine continued like normal today, we gathered for breakfast and made our daily game play. Like yesterday, the students and professors of Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Social Work headed back to Keramion while the group of Nursing and Pharmacy students opened clinic in San Miguel. Each day brings new excitement and experience a valued part of this amazing trip thus far.
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Nursing and Physical Therapy students at work in Keramion.
It was another beautiful day in Guatemala!
Today we embarked on our first day of clinic work, but not before sharing a morning meal together. With a quenched appetite, we were all energized for the day ahead. We separated into two groups headed for two different facilities, but kept one goal — to learn, to care, to teach, and to spread love to all those we are surrounded by.
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Hola! ¡Buenas noches desde Antigua!
After a long Saturday traveling in two separate groups into Guatemala City, the team is finally together and we have made it to Antigua! We woke up to a beautiful view of the volcanos and the lively community of Guatemala City for breakfast before the hour ride into Antigua. Upon arrival we were graciously welcomed into our homes for the next week to unload our bags and take in another incredible view. After getting settled in, we headed into the Square for lunch and grocery shopping that doubled as our daily workout. When we returned with our groceries, a few of the students prepared a yummy taco dinner for the entire team. During the meal preparations the pharmacy students adventured back into the city to pick up medication supplies for the clinic days ahead. To conclude our day we joined as a team to have a relaxing prayer and discussion on our excitements and gratitude for the opportunities that lay ahead of us this week. As a team we are all immensely blessed to have a chance to travel here and carry out God’s work in Guatemala!
Stay tuned for more pictures and updates on our week!
With love,
Kaitlyn Kerley, Caleb Darensbourg, and Cassidi Honer — Pharmacy and Social Work students.
From left to right: Caleb Darensbourg (Pharmacy), Kaitlyn Kerley (Pharmacy), and Cassidi Honer (Social Work)
HealthTrust, a healthcare performance improvement company and group purchasing organization (GPO), and Belmont’s College of Pharmacy’s Christy Houston Foundation Drug Information Center recently announced a joint program to enhance drug information services for members of the GPO’s Pharmacy Services Group. Participants will include employees of the Drug Information Center and Belmont pharmacy students. The professionals will field inquiries from HealthTrust members and distribute information about drug identification and availability, class review comparisons, new drug monographs, dosage administration, drug interactions and adverse effects.
In providing these services, the organizations have established a clinical information manager role and postgraduate fellowship training program through the Christy Houston Foundation Drug Information Center. The clinical information manager will be responsible for optimizing the drug information service and precepting Belmont pharmacy students. The two-year Evidence Based Clinical Management Fellowship in Drug Information will begin in June and underscore corporate leadership, drug information services and promoting the development of teaching and scholarly activities.
“At Belmont University, student pharmacists benefit from a range of specialized concentrations, electives and experiential opportunities both within and beyond the campus,” said Dr. David Gregory, dean of Belmont’s College of Pharmacy. “Our partnership with HealthTrust will complement didactic coursework with practical experience to better prepare students for the demands of an evolving healthcare marketplace.”
“HealthTrust is excited to partner with Belmont’s College of Pharmacy to enhance the drug information services available to our members,” said Vincent Jackson, vice president of HealthTrust’s Pharmacy Services Group. “In addition to benefitting our membership, these specialists will receive valuable insight to the GPO space and exposure to other areas of pharmacy that are not normally part of their scholastic training.”
Dr. Montgomery Williams, associate professor of pharmacy practice, Dr. Shaefer Spires, assistant professor with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Heather Spilburg, M.Ed., continuing education coordinator in the College of Pharmacy, developed and planned the Second Annual Middle Tennessee Antimicrobial Stewardship Symposium held in Belmont’s Janet Ayers Conference Room on Friday, January 26.
The symposium was attended by more than 100 healthcare professionals from multiple disciplines including pharmacists, physicians, nurses and those involved with infection prevention and patient safety and quality. Several alumni, preceptors and Belmont faculty were in attendance, as well. Williams said, “It is enlivening to be able to host an event where healthcare professionals can come together to discuss an issue that they are passionate about and leave feeling invigorated to make changes to improve patient care. Our vision of creating a forum for stewardship personnel to share challenges and ideas has grown into a regional event that attracts like-minded professionals to learn from each other as well as our panel speakers. As a Belmont faculty, it is a privilege to host this event at our College and further connect the school to the practice of pharmacy in our area.”
Morning sessions featured a lineup of experts in antimicrobial stewardship. These included Christopher Evans, PharmD, BCPS, HAI Pharmacist, Tennessee Department of Health Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program, George Nelson, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Libby Dodds Ashley, PharmD, MHS, FCCP, BCPS(AQ-ID), instructor, Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Duke University, Duke Antimicrobial Stewardship Outreach Network (DASON). The morning’s keynote speaker was CAPT Arjun Srinivasan, MD, associate director, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who gave an update on national activities regarding antimicrobial stewardship.
During the afternoon, participants attended workshop sessions led by pharmacists, physicians and nurses, allowing them the opportunity to discuss topics in a small group format. Some of these topics included joint commission requirements, molecular susceptibility, procalcitonin, and nursing involvement in antimicrobial stewardship. Healthcare facilities across the nation are recognizing the benefit of developing and maintaining evidence-based antimicrobial stewardship programs because of their ability to improve patient safety and lower adverse outcomes such as Clostridium difficile and infections from antimicrobial resistant bacteria. This symposium brought together key stakeholders and practitioners to learn about this topic and discuss ways to work together as a medical community to improve appropriate antimicrobial use and mitigate these risks.
Spires said of the event, “The 2nd Annual Middle Tennessee Antimicrobial Stewardship (AS) symposium was an astounding success. Our vision was to bring respective leaders in AS from hospitals across the state (and beyond) who are on the front lines practicing AS together, for networking, collaboration and to hear nationally and internationally recognized experts. Our registration almost doubled from last year and included leaders from three other states including Tennessee. We were honored with informative talks and captivated by the CDC’s CAPT. Arjun Srinivasan as our keynote speaker.”
The College of Pharmacy plans to continue the Symposium as an annual event.
With a mission to honor men and women who have made significant and lasting contributions to the health and health care industry, The Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame seeks to recognize and honor the pioneers and current leaders who have formed Tennessee’s health and health care community and encourage future generations of health care professionals. Created by Belmont University and the McWhorter Society, The Hall of Fame is supported by the Nashville Health Care Council, a Hall of Fame Founding Partner.
This year’s nomination process opened after the 2017 class was inducted at a ceremony held on Belmont University’s campus in October. The nominations process will remain open until February 15 and can be accessed at www.tnhealthcarehall.com. The 2018 inductee class will be announced at the McWhorter Society’s May luncheon.
Nominees can be practitioners, executives, entrepreneurs, mentors, teachers, scientists, researchers, innovators or any person with a connection to the health or health care field. Potential inductees must have:
To date, the Hall of Fame’s three inductee classes have included health care leaders from across the state including Jack Bovender, Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown, Dr. Stanley Cohen, Dr. Colleen Conway-Welch, Dr. Thomas Frist, Jr., Dr. Thomas Frist, Sr., Dr. William H. Frist, Dr. Henry Foster, Dr. Ernest Goodpasture, Joel Gordon, Dr. Frank Groner, Dr. Harry Jacobson, Jack C. Massey, R. Clayton McWhorter, Dr. Stanford Moore, Dr. Donald Pinkel, Dr. David Satcher, Dr. Mildred Stahlman, Dr. Paul Stanton and Danny Thomas.
A Selection Committee, comprised of health and health care leaders from across the state, will evaluate nominees for The Hall of Fame.
A group of 25 Belmont College of Pharmacy students attended the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting this month. This is the largest gathering of pharmacists and longest running clinical meeting in the world. Former First Lady Michelle Obama was the Keynote Speaker.
The conference serves to update pharmacists and pharmacy students on their knowledge, provide networking opportunities and offer information about the latest products and innovations. Additionally, students can attend the Residency Showcase to meet with representatives from hundreds of pharmacy residency programs around the country.
Belmont hosted a reception for students, alumni, faculty, and friends of the college. Additionally, seven posters submitted by Belmont students were accepted and presented at the meeting including:
Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Communications
Dr. David Gregory, current associate dean of academic affairs at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, has been named as the new dean of Belmont University’s College of Pharmacy. Gregory will succeed founding dean Dr. Phil Johnston, who was recently promoted to a new position as Belmont’s vice provost for academic affairs. Gregory, a native of Nashville, will begin his new position on Belmont’s campus Feb. 1.
Belmont Provost Dr. Thomas Burns said, “As the founding dean of Belmont Pharmacy, Dr. Phil Johnston brought tremendous success and professionalism to the college throughout his decade-long service, and I am grateful that his new position enables all academic areas of the University to benefit from his experience and approach. Securing his replacement required a thorough national search of top candidates, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the appointment of Dr. David Gregory. His familiarity with Nashville’s healthcare community and his extensive credentials as a practicing pharmacist and educator make him a perfect and seamless fit for our program. Moreover, his commitment to developing compassionate caregivers who will excel at pharmacy practice gives me immense confidence in the future of Belmont Pharmacy.”
Gregory added, “I am honored to be joining the team at Belmont to continue to advance the profession of pharmacy in an ever changing healthcare marketplace. Belmont’s focus on faith and service aligns well with my personal mission to develop pharmacists that are highly knowledgeable and have a transcendent cause in the care of their patients.”
As the chief academic and executive officer for Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, Gregory will be responsible for the programmatic leadership, financial management, personnel administration and planning and development for the approximately 300 students and 29 faculty who make up the college.
In his current role as an associate dean at Ole Miss, Gregory’s responsibilities include leadership of approximately 800 students in both the pre-professional and professional degree programs of the School of Pharmacy along with strategic and visionary planning in the ongoing development of policies, programs, curriculum and clinical practice that align with the educational mission of the School. He oversees daily operations regarding key infrastructure components related to human resources, purchasing, financial management and student support services, and he creates an academic environment of excellence that fosters student growth both professionally and personally while increasing the visibility, advancement and recognition of the School of Pharmacy.
Gregory earned a bachelor’s of science and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Mississippi. Prior to joining Ole Miss in 2013, Gregory spent a significant portion of his career in Nashville with positions of increasing responsibility with Vanderbilt University Medical Center. From 2008-2013, he served as VUMC’s director of pharmacy for education, drug policy, research and clinical pharmacy services within the Department of Pharmaceutical Services. During his time in Nashville, Dr. Gregory also contributed time to the Belmont College of Pharmacy External Advisory Committee.
In addition to his professional duties, he also currently serves as an accreditation surveyor for the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and is a member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Workforce and Education Council. He received the 2009 University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, the 2011 Belmont University College of Pharmacy Professional Stewardship Award and the 1997 Vanderbilt Hospital Pharmacist of the Year Award, among other accolades.
About the Belmont College of Pharmacy
Situated in the health care capital of the world, Belmont University’s College of Pharmacy is dedicated to rigorous and purposeful teaching, scholarship, service and leadership. The College develops pharmacists prepared to meet the demands of an evolving and contemporary practice as 95 percent of spring 2017 graduates recently passed the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination. With five areas of specialized concentration including pharmacotherapy, information management, pharmacy management, pharmacy missions/public health and a PharmD/MBA program, students have the opportunity to tailor their education to their unique passions. Faculty dedicated to student success, state-of-the-art classrooms, laboratories, simulation rooms, drug information center and a student-run, working pharmacy combine to create a collaborative educational space where students can learn skills while further developing their pharmacy interests.
Belmont University College of Pharmacy third-year students Dominic Paolella, David Luong, Abdul Mohammed Jonathan Ashton and Aziz Afzali recently undertook the challenge of developing a new and exciting telepharmacy access point for patients on the mend, understanding the importance of patients recovering in their own homes. In recent years, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that patient recovery is more successful when they transition from dedicated healthcare facilities like hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities into their own homes. But many patients require help to facilitate the change.
Amazon Alexa is a new artificially intelligent platform for accessing information and interacting with objects in the home including lights, music and medical devices. As part of the Introduction to Healthcare Informatics III and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiential (APPE) classes in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum at Belmont University, each student developed a voice activated application, or “skill” for the Alexa platform. The skills can be downloaded and activated on demand, answering drug information questions with accurate medical information.
While enrolled in the College of Pharmacy, students discuss diseases states and the appropriate medication regimens for each. They are also trained to apply and communicate that knowledge to other healthcare providers and their patients. “As student pharmacists, we are trained to be experts in medication and disease state management.” said Paolella. “The Alexa platform offered us an opportunity to extend our patient care mission.”
Alexa’s artificial intelligence allows counseling to be taken out of the pharmacy and into the patient’s living room. This is especially beneficial when a home care nurse is not available. “In these cases, it would be convenient to have a small, inexpensive device at home which could be a conduit for patients to access answers to their healthcare questions at home and on-demand,” said Ashton.
Belmont’s sponsor of the Amazon Alexa Developer Initiative is Assistant Professor of Healthcare Informatics and Analytics Dr. Anthony Blash. To prepare student pharmacists in the healthcare informatics concentration to become future leaders in healthcare informatics, Blash has created a four-course sequence and one month intensive experiential rotations. “Through our partnership with Amazon, we are exploring new ways to provide telepharmacy services in innovative and inexpensive ways to large segments of the population,” Blash said.
Student pharmacists’ skills include:
DrugInfo3 allows the user to ask about generic names of antibiotics to gather pertinent information for more than 35 antibiotics including ciprofloxacin, erythromycin and isoniazid. Asthma Device Helper provides step-by-step patient counseling on proper use of many common asthma inhalers.
“For me, the project was a proof of concept. While our project was limited to drug information, the technology could be applied to many aspects of care. There are lots of possibilities for future development with this artificial intelligence platform, and a lot of opportunities to help our patients in new and exciting ways.” said Mohammed.
For Afzali, the opportunity to focus on informatics has sparked an interest in post-graduation experiences devoted to the topic.“The Informatics Concentration allows me to combine my interests in information technology and pharmacy for the safety of patients worldwide,” he said. “I hope to continue to pursue my passion in a post-graduate informatics residency and career in Healthcare Informatics upon graduation.”
While none of these skills should replace a consultation with licensed healthcare professionals, the free skills can be accessed via the Amazon Skills store or through the Alexa app, available for Amazon Fire, Apple and Android devices. To download these skills onto Alexa, choose “Skills” from the Alexa app menu and search for the skill by name.
Dr. Michael Warren, Deputy Commissioner for Population Health with the Tennessee Department of Health, will speak at Belmont this Friday, October 27, at 10:00 a.m. during the convocation hour. His presentation will provide an introduction to public health/population health, discuss their importance, and take a look at public health in Tennessee. The event will be held in McWhorter Hall, Room 102. Students and the public are invited.
For images from this year’s event, click here.
The Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame inducted six health care legends from across the state at a luncheon and ceremony held in Belmont University’s Curb Event Center today, Tuesday, October 17. Hosted by Senior Counsel at Finn Partners John Seigenthaler, the Hall of Fame’s Ceremony recognizes and honors the pioneers and current leaders who have formed Tennessee’s health and health care community and encourage future generations of health care professionals.
Created by Belmont University and Belmont’s McWhorter Society with the support of the Nashville Health Care Council, a Founding Partner, the Hall of Fame’s 2017 class includes:
This year’s Hall of Fame inductees join an impressive list of health care legends honored in the last two years. These include Jack O. Bovender, Jr., Stanley Cohen, Dr. Henry W. Foster, Dr. Thomas Frist, Jr., Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., Dr. Ernest William Goodpasture, Frank S. Groner, Jack C. Massey, Clayton McWhorter, Dr. David Satcher, Dr. Mildred Stahlman, Dr. Paul Stanton, Danny Thomas and Dr. Colleen Conway Welch.
For more information on the Hall of Fame, click here.
Belmont University College of Pharmacy raised $2,527 for the Nashville AIDS Walk and participated for the sixth consecutive year, sponsored by Nashville Cares on September 23. Team Captain Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical, Social and Administrative Sciences Dr. Edgar S. Diaz-Cruz led faculty and students who joined hundreds of community participants to benefit families impacted by HIV/AIDS in Middle Tennessee. Diaz-Cruz celebrated the outstanding efforts of his team noting that Belmont University Pharmacy was recognized for raising the third largest overall team donation. Diaz-Cruz said, “This type of event provides a real-world experience for our students to be an active part of the community for an important health cause. I am proud of our students!”
In addition to teaching biochemistry and pharmacology, Diaz-Cruz teaches an elective course in HIV prevention and treatment that provides students with in-depth awareness of the role that pharmacists can play in ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. An added benefit to the completion of this course is a certificate in “HIV Testing and Counseling” from the Tennessee Department of Health.
Belmont’s College of Pharmacy recently hosted a Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy Update. The purpose of this Continuing Education event was to educate pharmacists on important topics related to psychiatric pharmacy. Dr. Marshall Cates, professor of pharmacy practice at Samford University, spoke on the pharmacists role in suicide prevention. Dr. Wes Geminn from the TN Department of Mental Health spoke on the opioid pandemic currently affecting Tennessee, as well as nearly every corner of the United States. Dr. Katie Liveoak, clinical pharmacy specialist in psychiatry at Centennial Parthenon Pavilion, spoke on “Me-Too” drugs in psychiatry and Dr. Michael McGuire, assistant professor of pharmacy practice at spoke on the effects of marijuana in psychiatric conditions.
The event welcomed 30 attendees including 8 current College of Pharmacy students. Participants came from community pharmacies as well as health systems. The College of Pharmacy Continuing Education program hopes to make this an annual event.
Belmont University College of Pharmacy is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. For more information on upcoming Continuing Education opportunities, visit the Continuing Education website: http://belmont.edu/pharmacy/alumni/ce/index.html
On Saturday, September 9, the College of Pharmacy hosted the annual Tennessee Oncology Pharmacists Association Meeting annual event in Frist Lecture Hall in partnership with the Tennessee Oncology Pharmacists Association (TOPA). TOPA is a local organization created by a group of local pharmacists.Their purpose is to “promote collaborative learning and foster networking opportunities with pharmacists across Tennessee and surrounding states” and “provide educational and networking resources that promote the optimization and delivery of pharmaceutical services for patients living with cancer in the Volunteer State and across the southeast region.“
Nearly 50 pharmacists attended the event, as well as 10 corporate sponsors. Attendees came from across Middle Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi and Kentucky. Eleven presentations were given by oncology pharmacists on topics including new oncology drugs, transitioning patients from inpatient to outpatient care and new legislation related to oncology, among others.
Belmont University College of Pharmacy is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. For more information on upcoming Continuing Education opportunities, click here.
University scores accolades for innovation, teaching, veteran support and more
For the ninth consecutive year, Belmont University has again achieved a Top 10 regional ranking with today’s release of U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 edition of America’s Best Colleges, this year ranking at an impressive No. 5 and remaining the highest ranked university in Tennessee in this category. Moreover, Belmont won the praise of its peers as it was included on a number of additional U.S. News lists that rate institutions on areas critical to student opportunities and success.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “These rankings provide benchmarks that are helpful to us as we work to provide programs that equip our students to go out and make a positive impact in the world. While it is rewarding to see Belmont reach a higher ranking overall, it is especially gratifying to be recognized by our peers for excelling in areas that promote strong outcomes for our students. As a student-centered university, this is at the heart of what we aim to achieve.”
In the publication released today, Belmont is lauded for the tenth year in a row for its commitment to “making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities,” landing second on the “Most Innovative Schools” in the South list. Belmont earned acclaim in the following categories as well:
Belmont Provost Dr. Thomas Burns said, “This has been an extraordinary fall for Belmont. We started the fall semester Belmont by announcing a record-breaking enrollment number for the 17th consecutive year – reaching a total of 8,080 students on campus. These students remind us every day that they are drawn to Belmont by the diversity and academic strength of our programs as well as by the intentional commitment to student success, as highlighted in the U.S. News rankings. I’m particularly proud of this incoming undergraduate class which brings, on average, the highest entering scores on the ACT (average 26.4) in the past four years. As an institution, we are committed to continue to do our best to fulfill the Belmont mission of providing an academically challenging education that will enable our students to engage and transform the world with disciplined intelligence, compassion, courage and faith.”
The U.S. News analysis places Belmont in a premier position among the 135 public and private institutions included in the South region, an area that covers Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, in partnership with Aegis Sciences Corporation, recently celebrated the completion of its first Clinical Scientist Fellow in Drug Information, a two-year program that provides an intensive postgraduate training program focused on drug information, evidence-based practice, teaching and research. Dr. Kate Claussen, of Hendersonville, Tennessee, was the program’s first fellow.
The program is one of approximately 60 postgraduate pharmacy fellowships in the country and offers a unique training experience in areas not widely available in pharmacy training. Two new fellows, Jeneva Garland and Stephanie Manley, began their training on June 1. This program is the first drug information fellowship in Nashville and the only drug information fellowship with a healthcare laboratory component.
Students from Belmont’s Jack C. Massey College of Business Graduate School of Business (MBA and Professional MBA), College of Pharmacy (joint PharmD/MBA) and College of Law (joint MBA/JD) that are enrolled in an accounting course and a management course recently participated in a SAP-simulated group project and won among their classmates. This is the first time that a student group has included participants from all four disciplines.
The SAP-based simulation provides an opportunity for graduate students, in groups of 4-5, to run a simulated company. Each team is responsible for making strategic decisions including product mix, pricing and marketing levels, investment in additional capacity and cash flow management, among other things. They then operate their companies over six simulated ‘months’ of productions. This opportunity is unique as students are able to use SAP, an enterprise software system that is used by many leading manufacturing companies including Nissan, Bridgestone, Tractor Supply Company and Mapco.
Associate Dean & Senior Professor of Performance Excellence Dr. Joe Alexander said the opportunity to work alongside students from other disciplines is incredibly valuable for participants. “In contemporary business settings, that’s the name of the game,” Alexander said. “Cross-functional teams where individuals from different departments and functions must learn to work together, utilizing the skills and information from their areas to help make teams more successful in solving business problems are apparent in today’s organizations.”
For several years, students from Belmont’s College of Pharmacy have served as counselors for children’s overnight diabetes camps in Alabama and Florida, gaining fourth-year advanced practice experience and clinical course credit. This year, the College extended the opportunity for students who completed their first or second professional year of classes to serve as a counselor for a day camp, Camp Sugar Falls, located in Antioch, Tennessee. Professor of Pharmacy Dr. Condit Steil has fostered these effort for many years, both at Belmont and on a national scale.
The opportunity for student pharmacists to become more aware of children’s needs and support them as they deal with diabetes is valuable. Many patients with diabetes rely on pharmacists for supplies, medications and advice. Student pharmacist David Luong said, “Having been a counselor this week has been fun and very educational. We learned about treating diabetes, the intricacies of monitoring and insulin dosing and carbohydrate counting.”
In the camp, Belmont’s student pharmacists worked with and learned from other health care providers including physicians, nurses, nutritionists and counselors. The American Diabetes Association’s Camp Sugar Falls is a day-camp experience for children ages 6 to 17 that have been diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Children and counselors engage in a week of recreational and educational activities that focus on nutrition, lifestyle habits, self-esteem and team building. Camp Sugar Falls takes place at the YMCA’s Camp Widjiwagan.
Award given to recognize community partner committed to assisting Nashville’s New Americans
In honor of the University’s commitment to helping New Americans throughout the Nashville community, Belmont was recently honored with Siloam Health’s inaugural Bridge Builders Award. Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher accepted the award at Siloam’s Amplify Nashville Awards Ceremony held on June 22 at Oz Arts. Belmont’s award by presented by Milton Johnson, CEO of HCA and Belmont trustee.
Siloam hosted the event to celebrate the immigrants and refugees who contribute to Nashville’s status as a growing, great city. The event celebrated four honorees for their tireless commitment to Nashville’s cultural diversity including:
Under Fisher’s leadership, Belmont consistently strives to align its vision with the ever-changing needs of its community and works to help New Americans get ahead with their education and in life. The University makes intentional efforts to hire documented, sponsored refugees, encouraging them to take advantage of the University’s educational offerings and covering the cost of ESL courses. Additionally, Belmont considers students living in the United States for admission without regard to immigration standing and offers support to assist foreign-born students with enrollment and the transition to college life.
Additionally, Belmont’s Colleges of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Nursing have been in partnership with Siloam for many years. Dr. Elissa Greene, assistant professor of pharmacy, practices at Siloam when she isn’t teaching at Belmont and hosts student pharmacists daily for clinical rotations. Students serve as resources for medical personnel, make recommendations on medication, provide patient and family counseling and make home visits, among other things. Nursing students also visit Siloam for clinical experiences, faculty members serve as regular volunteers and the College will be partnering with the organization’s faith-based, community health outreach program in the future.
John and Nancy Le, pictured above with Dr. and Mrs. Fisher, were also present at the ceremony. The Les, both retired Belmont employees, came to Nashville from Vietnam 25 years ago under Catholic Charities. They both worked at the University for more than 20 years, and four of their children and grandchildren have attended Belmont. Their story was shared at the event as an example of Belmont’s commitment to Nashville’s new Americans.
“It is so important for Belmont to serve the Nashville community,” Fisher said. “We are honored to call Nashville home, and it’s our privilege to serve our city’s newest residents through educational opportunities, employment and more. Siloam Health continues to do incredible work throughout our city, and we are so grateful to have been recognized with this award.”
A group of eight Belmont Pharmacy faculty and students, the largest to-date, is participating this week in the Summer Institute on Health Policy, a yearly interdisciplinary educational event held at Meharry Medical College. The focus of the course is social epidemiology, and attendees are discussing underlying reasons and potential solutions to disparities in health care access and outcomes.
This year’s course is being taught by Dr. Amani Nuru-Jeter from the University of California Berkeley with assistance from Dr. Derek Griffith from Vanderbilt University.
by Jade Readus Williams, Pharmacy Team
Illiteracy, especially health illiteracy, is a significant problem for many of the people in Cambodia. A few days ago, the Pharmacy team got the opportunity to teach the pharmacists at Hope Hospital how to communicate with patients with low health illiteracy. Throughout the presentation, we discussed how to use pictograms, body language, and verbal communication to educate patients about their medications. Afterwards, we asked the pharmacists to give examples of how they would explain certain medications to illiterate patients. The Hope Hospital pharmacists were eager to present their examples. It was inspiring to see the pharmacists apply what we had taught them. It emphasized the fact that we can really make a change through teaching and empowering the people of Cambodia. I am so grateful to be a part of the awesome work that is happening here.
by: Candida Damian
As our trip in Cambodia is coming to the final week, I have been looking back to everything that I have learned on this trip. Wow. What an amazing time I have had abroad in Cambodia. The experiences I have had here are unforgettable, and I can’t wait to bring stories back home to my family and friends.
Today, I had the opportunity of shadowing in the emergency department at CMH in Phnom Penh. The staff and nursing students were so open and nice to me while I was there. It is such an amazing privilege to be able to do what I love in another country. It makes me extremely proud to be a nurse in the near future. Nursing is needed everywhere in the world, and it is reassuring when nurses do things here similar to how we do things in the States. Nursing is so universal and it is vital in every place in the world.
Emergency departments have always interested me, so I was excited when I was able to shadow in the ED. It is very busy, but it can also be calm. The staff took great care of each and every patient, and it was nice to see when a patient could get up from the bed and walk away from the ED feeling better. I enjoyed comparing and contrasting the ED here in Phnom Penh to ED’s in the U.S. Even though certain things are different, at the end, they still both perform the same exact tasks. A nurse asked me if I wanted to perform an EKG on a patient. When I went up to the EKG machine, I noticed that it looked different from the EKG machines used in the States. The nurse then taught me how to use this machine. It is cool to see that even though they looked completely different exteriorly, it functioned the same way.
At the end of the day, we went to one of my favorite places for dinner. It is called ‘Friends’, and we all got tapas. The reason why I love this place so much is because we all share our food. I love sharing and I love food, so putting it together is great. The food is so good, and I left with a satisfied belly. Some of us ended the night with a massage. I really enjoy getting massages here because it is cheap, and the masseuse was extremely nice. In all, today was great and I’m looking forward to our final days here in this beautiful country.
