The coronavirus pandemic is disrupting the world and life as we know it. During these historic times, the School of Pharmacy is rising to the challenge to do our part. The health and safety of our community is most important during this public health crisis. That’s why we’re coming together by working apart at the School of Pharmacy. Like the rest of the UW–Madison campus, our students are receiving instruction through distance technology and online learning, and our faculty and staff are working remotely to continue their vital work in teaching, research, and supporting our mission.

The education of our future healthcare leaders and innovators is paramount. We are fortunate to have talented and dedicated people at the School of Pharmacy who are working tirelessly to ensure we maintain our excellence and provide the best possible experience for our students under these challenging circumstances. One example of this is advocating for our PharmD students in their clerkships to help them graduate on-time as much as possible by working with the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and campus.

We are as committed as ever to our students’ success and appreciate the support from alumni in helping us on this front. From our alumni preceptors to our alumni mentors and guest (virtual) lecturers, you are making a difference in our students’ lives.

Finally, as leaders around the globe order businesses to close to aggressively promote social distancing, one of the few types of organizations allowed to continue operations are pharmacies. This is because everyone appreciates the critical role that pharmacists serve in maintaining and restoring the health and well-being of people everywhere. Pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare professionals and are fighting on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for your important and selfless work.

Among the Best

One of the hallmarks of our School is excellence, and I’m proud that the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy is rising in the rankings, ranked seventh in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its latest Best Pharmacy Schools edition. In other good news, our students scored one of the highest first-time NAPLEX pass rates in the country, and we received re-accreditation from ACPE in January. Our School and PharmD program are remarkable!

Our excellence in action also was evident when I hosted Provost Karl Scholz in February for a pharmacy introduction and tour of the School of Pharmacy. The provost was impressed by the achievements of our faculty, staff, and students and met some of our incredible people who are pushing the boundaries of knowledge and preparing our next generation of leaders. It’s inspiring.

As we look ahead, we face several major challenges, in addition to COVID-19, that could greatly impact the future of pharmacy.

Attracting More to the Pharmacy Profession

First, a significant challenge at the moment is the ongoing national decline in PharmD applications at pharmacy schools. Applications are down significantly everywhere, including at UW–Madison. Consequently, we anticipate that this year’s incoming PharmD class will be the smallest in many years. A major contributor to the lower application trend is likely the national conversation about pharmacy as a career without an exciting future ahead.

I strongly disagree.

Although Bureau of Labor Statistics labor force projections anticipate no pharmacist job growth for the next 10 years in retail pharmacies, the future remains very bright for pharmacists in hospital and ambulatory care practice settings where growth is expected.

These are practice areas where UW–Madison excels in preparing pharmacists. Last year, we had 76 of our graduates successfully match for a residency upon graduation, making the School of Pharmacy fourth in the country for the most residency matches. Many, if not all, of these graduates will go on to practice at the top of their license in patient care roles in care settings such as community, hospital, and ambulatory care practice. We will continue to capitalize on our enduring assets of our gifted faculty, excellent preceptors, and strong alumni network, and focus on educating our students to practice pharmacy at the highest level.

We have formed an enrollment task force at the School of Pharmacy to develop strategic initiatives to help us attract the brightest minds to the pharmacy profession and to be their top choice in Doctor of Pharmacy programs. One of our key strategies will be to focus on our own backyard here at UW and reach out to STEM undergraduates about the benefits of pursuing pharmacy as a career. Another is increasing outreach to high school students as they’re thinking about careers.

I know the significant impact our alumni network, especially across Wisconsin, can provide by informing young people about the career possibilities in pharmacy, debunking misperceptions about what pharmacists do, and encouraging them to consider UW. It’s a brave new world in which the School must look outward to inform people about the value and contribution of pharmacy. Look for future requests to visit high schools and to talk with young people in your communities about the benefits of a pharmacy education.

Better Serving Diverse Patient Populations

Another challenge we face is UW–Madison’s often-fraught history with students of color. Last fall, the Homecoming video released by an undergraduate student committee was an unfortunate reminder that we have a great deal of work to do to create a fully inclusive university environment.

At the School of Pharmacy, we consider it our responsibility to prepare students to serve all patients and our duty to help diversify the pharmacy profession. As educators, we are working to put greater focus on diversity and inclusion in order to improve the quality of care our graduates provide to diverse patient populations. This is why our strategic plan for the School of Pharmacy addresses diversity and inclusion as an ongoing commitment.

Like other health professions, pharmacy has historically been a profession with a disproportionately small number of underrepresented individuals. Our strategic plan includes a goal to recruit more students of color so that we can prepare a next generation of pharmacists who represent more of their increasingly diverse patients.

Foundational to Our Success: Alumni

Our actions moving forward are more important than ever.

As dean, I want to ensure that we are focused and strategic in our efforts so that the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy continues to be a world-class leader in the fields of pharmacy education, practice, and research.

As an alumnus, you play a role in our future success.

I hope you will consider how you can advocate for the field. Within your spheres of influence, you can help dispel the common misconception that there’s only one kind of pharmacist when, in fact, pharmacists work in numerous practice areas and settings such as hospital specialties, managed care, public health, ambulatory, research, and so much more. Talk with young people about the new and exciting roles that pharmacists have and will play in the future world of healthcare. We also strongly encourage our alumni to help highlight pharmacy as an area where a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds are needed and valued to improve patient care.

Alumni can also support the School of Pharmacy in its educational mission.

Later this year, we’ll celebrate the Day of the Badger. This campus-wide day of Badger pride will feature a special challenge from our School of Pharmacy Board of Visitors and a donation match from the Pharmacy Alumni Association (PAA) for young alumni givers. We hope you will take part in the day by wearing red, sharing your Pharmacy Badger spirit on social media, and making a gift to support our students. Please stay tuned for more information via email about the Day of the Badger. Your participation in supporting the School, as an alumnus, factors into national rankings like U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges annual rankings.

I also want to thank our readers for sharing feedback about what you would like to see in DiscoveRx. Overwhelmingly, you reported that you greatly value the publication and that it helps keep you connected with and informed about the School of Pharmacy. We appreciate your feedback and will use this, moving forward, to shape our content. I applaud our editor-in-chief, Katie Gerhards, for her hard work. If you have additional ideas or feedback about the publication, please let us know here.

Although we had to cancel our Alumni & Friends Reception at the upcoming APhA Meeting due to COVID-19, I hope to connect with you in person at one of our other upcoming events: our alumni event in Milwaukee this summer or our Madison events later this year. Please consult our calendar for up-to-date changes during this unpredictable time. Our recent alumni event in La Crosse was a wonderful connection point for many alumni in west central Wisconsin, and we hope to continue connecting when social distancing measures are no longer necessary.

Thank you for all that you do for the School of Pharmacy and for our profession.

On, Wisconsin!

Steven M. Swanson
Dean and Professor