UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy receives grant to address rural pharmacist shortage

The University of Illinois Chicago’s Retzky College of Pharmacy received a grant totaling $864,000 from the McKesson Foundation to support rural-focused interventions to develop and train pharmacy professionals to serve rural populations.

Over the next three years, this grant will allow educators on the UIC Health Sciences Campus-Rockford to expand the High School Pharmacy Camp to rural students interested in pharmacy careers. In addition, it will fund travel and housing stipends to give more student pharmacists experiential learning opportunities in rural communities.

“The need for pharmacists in rural areas is critical,” said Heidi Olson, a Retzky College of Pharmacy assistant professor and director of its Rural Pharmacy Education Program. “Focusing outreach and recruitment on students who currently reside in a rural area is an evidence-based practice to identify students who are most likely to return to work in rural areas after graduation.”

Olson said the grant also will increase the number of rural undergraduate students attending the Summer Pharmacy Institute in Rockford to learn more about the field of pharmacy. It also will support a recruiter who will focus on rural areas to increase enrollment of students from rural communities.

“Pharmacists are a great resource for their surrounding communities, and pharmacists in rural areas often end up bridging health care gaps created by barriers like limited income, shortages of health care professionals and hospital closures.” Olson said. “So it’s important that students understand how they can help patients overcome these barriers.”

“Helping prepare tomorrow’s health care workforce is a priority for the McKesson Foundation, and supporting UIC’s expansion of their already-successful RPHARM program is a great fit for our strategic grant making,” said Melissa Thompson, president of the McKesson Foundation. “This partnership, designed to help UIC build a strong rural pharmacy workforce, is also expected to improve the quality and accessibility of health care in rural communities.”

Of the 61 Rural Pharmacy Education Program graduates since 2010, 44% are practicing in rural communities and 68% are practicing within 100 miles of their hometown. With the additional support for this program, the college hopes to increase the number of pharmacy graduates going into rural practice.

“We plan to create a new elective course focused on rural health care,” said Kevin Rynn, vice dean of the College of Pharmacy in Rockford. “That, along with rural cultural competency training for students, should help improve their ability to provide effective care to rural communities upon graduation.”

The grant will also allow the college to provide alums of the Rural Pharmacy Education Program and other pharmacists working in rural areas with continuing education to keep them up to date on patient care guidelines and innovative pharmacy care practices.