McWhorter School of Pharmacy

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Administration

Michael A. Crouch, Fred E. McWhorter Dean and Professor
Michael G. Kendrach, Executive Associate Dean; Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Professor
Elizabeth Ann Sheaffer, Associate Dean for Assessment and Accreditation; Associate Professor
Renee M. DeHart, Associate Dean for Student Affairs; Professor
Jonathan L. Thigpen, Assistant Dean for Curricular Innovation and Professional Development; Associate Professor
Marshall E. Cates, Chair, Department of Pharmacy Practice; Professor
Howard P. Hendrickson, Chair, Pharmaceutical, Social and Administrative Sciences; Professor
Greg S. Gorman, Vice Chair, Pharmaceutical Sciences; Professor

Faculty

John J. Arnold, Professor
Jennifer W. Beall, Professor
Kimberley W. Benner, Professor
Amy E. Broeseker, Professor
Danielle L. Cruthirds, Professor
B. DeeAnn Dugan, Professor
Peter J. Hughes, Professor
Maryam Iranikhah, Professor
Jeffrey A. Kyle, Professor
David R. Luthin, Professor
Valerie T. Prince, Professor
Rachel Morgan Slaton, Professor
Michael Chad Thomas, Professor
Angela R. Thomason, Professor
Bruce A. Waldrop, Professor
X. Robert Wang, Professor
Terri M. Wensel, Professor
Mary A. Worthington, Professor
J. Katie Boyd, Associate Professor
Erika Cretton-Scott, Associate Professor
Cheryl D. Cropp, Associate Professor
Bernadette D’Souza, Associate Professor
Crystal M. Deas, Associate Professor
Jessica Whalen Skelley, Associate Professor
C. Whitney White, Associate Professor
Georges B. Adunlin, Assistant Professor
Stephen A. Brown, Assistant Professor
Lan N. Bui, Assistant Professor
Elizabeth Covington, Assistant Professor
Patricia Jumbo Lucioni, Assistant Professor
Melanie M. Manis, Assistant Professor
Samuel Obeng, Assistant Professor
Megan Z. Roberts, Assistant Professor

History

The McWhorter School of Pharmacy of Samford University was established January 31, 1927, in Birmingham, Alabama as the Howard College Department of Pharmacy. The Department grew steadily and became the Division of Pharmacy in 1938. Designation as the Samford University School of Pharmacy occurred in 1965 when Howard College reorganized to become Samford University. In 1995, Samford University Trustees authorized naming the school the McWhorter School of Pharmacy in recognition of the generous support of alumnus R. Clayton McWhorter (‘55) and his family. In 2017, the school celebrated its 90th year of operation.

Vision and Mission

The vision of the pharmacy school is to prepare pharmacists who transform lives.

The pharmacy school supports the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) statement of a unified vision for the future of pharmacy practice that states that “Pharmacists will be the health care professionals responsible for providing patient care that ensures optimal medication therapy outcomes.”

The mission of the Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy is to nurture and prepare persons within a Christian environment to be exemplary pharmacists and to improve health worldwide through innovative pharmacy practice, scholarship, and service.

Curriculum Outcome

The Samford University doctor of pharmacy program is designed to create graduates that are “Team and Practice Ready.”

McWhorter School of Pharmacy Values

Christian Faith

We value Christian faith, which encompasses:

• Supporting the Christian mission of the university
• Encouraging the exploration of calling in one’s professional and personal life
• Creating an environment that fosters community and acceptance
• Providing opportunities for shaping one’s own spiritual formation

Discovery

We value discovery, which encompasses:

• Acquiring knowledge relating to pharmacy and medication therapy
• Applying knowledge to better patients’ health and lives
• Engaging in teaching and learning that challenges and enlightens
• Conducting research that contributes to the body of knowledge relating to pharmacy and medication therapy
• Fostering creativity and inquisitiveness

Patient Health

We value patient health, which encompasses:

• Caring for the individual patient as well as the population
• Cultivating patient-centered approach to healthcare
• Exhibiting compassionate care for the whole person
• Promoting patient wellness and preventative care
• Advancing pharmacists’ role in the healthcare team
• Advocating use of the most effective healing methods
• Promoting optimal medication use
• Improving care for the underserved

Tradition

We value tradition, which encompasses:

• Providing rigorous academic inquiry in a Christian setting
• Promoting distinction in practice that spans generations of pharmacists since our founding in 1927
• Pursuing excellence in teaching and learning while engaging in quality scholarship and excellence in practice
• Producing accomplished student and alumni leaders in the pharmacy profession and in local communities
• Establishing collaboration with local, national, and international partners
• Recruiting and retaining highly credentialed and qualified faculty

Relationships

We value relationships, which encompass:

• Cultivating caring and respectful faculty-student interactions
• Maintaining involvement with alumni
• Encouraging student connectedness
• Providing a community environment for employees
• Appreciating and supporting external constituents

Achievement

We value achievement, which encompasses:

• Striving for excellence in teaching, learning, service, practice, and scholarship
• Cultivating an environment that encourages personal growth and development
• Maintaining continuous school accreditation through ACPE since our first site visit in 1940
• Graduating pharmacists who consistently exceed national averages on licensure exams
• Promoting life-long learning and an attitude of service to others and the profession

Professionalism

We value professionalism, which encompasses:

• Demonstrating personal integrity
• Accepting responsibility for the quality of individual practice
• Practicing with a commitment to service
• Serving the needs of both the patient and profession
• Exhibiting continuously the ethical, moral, and legal principles of our profession
• Participating in pharmacy organizations to advance the profession

Ability-Based Outcomes

• Professionalism: The candidate will exhibit behaviors and values consistent with the trust given to the profession of pharmacy and actively and effectively engage as a healthcare team member.
• Communication: The candidate will model effective communication through use of verbal, written, visual, and kinesthetic media.
• Self-Directed Learning: The candidate will develop and actively maintain depth and breadth of knowledge in biomedical, pharmaceutical, social, behavioral, administrative, and clinical sciences.
• Patient-Centered Care: The candidate will provide optimal, patient-centered pharmaceutical care by designing prevention, intervention, and educational strategies for common disease states to improve health and wellness for individuals and communities.
• Resource Management: The candidate will link business applications and clinical practices to manage human, financial, technological, and physical resources effectively and to optimize the safety and efficacy of medication use systems.
• Evidence-Based Practice: The candidate will demonstrate competency in using drug information skills to promote evidence-based practice.
• Critical Thinking: The candidate will effectively evaluate information and critically think through issues in order to exercise appropriate judgment and provide appropriate solutions to drug-related problems.
• Leadership: The candidate will take responsibility for the continual improvement and advancement of the profession of pharmacy.
• Interprofessionalism: The candidate will engage with other health care providers to learn the role of other disciplines in providing patient care and to contribute to the health care team.

Accreditation

The McWhorter School of Pharmacy is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 20 North Clark Street, Suite 2500, Chicago, IL, 60602; Phone (312) 664-3575; Website: www.acpe-accredit.org.

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