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Four pharmacy students in a lab
UH Hilo College of Pharmacy students

At a meeting on August 21, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents approved a change of status from “provisional” to “established” for the PharmD degree offered at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy.

“When the College of Pharmacy gets a cold, UH Hilo gets pneumonia, so we are obviously pleased with the committee’s results,” said Matthew Platz, UH Hilo vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Even though this process is required for all new programs at the University of Hawaiʻi, we take our role in reviewing programs very seriously. The college put together an outstanding package of support and made it easy for me to endorse the change in status.”

The Board of Regents Committee on Academic Affairs recommended the approval on August 7. Established UH programs must perform regular reviews every seven years.

The PharmD program is designed to prepare students for a career as a pharmacist after passing a national board examination and successful completion of licensure requirements in the state where they will practice. In addition to acquiring extensive experience in the practice of pharmacy, the rigorous curriculum is rooted in basic biomedical, and pharmaceutical sciences, designed for students to acquire knowledge of the scientific underpinnings of the profession.

The four-year professional program has had 341 graduates since acquiring full accreditation status in 2011. Of those graduates, 97 percent have passed their licensure exam. As of June 2014, graduates from the Class of 2014 have been hired for jobs that require a PharmD degree in eight states as well as Guam and Saipan at various retail chains, community pharmacies and hospitals.

“Achieving this latest milestone shows we have continued to offer a first-rate education despite the economic distractions of the past few years,” said John Pezzuto, DKICP founding dean. “Student pharmacists can rest assured the training and education they receive at UH Hilo is second to none.”

Read the UH Hilo news release for more information.

—By Alyson Kakugawa-Leong

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