News & Events

UNC-Chapel Hill Confirms Pharmacy Students to Enroll in Asheville in 2011

July 13, 2010

CHAPEL HILL —The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will begin enrolling students in a new satellite pharmacy education program based at the University of North Carolina Asheville in the fall of 2011.

“The past two months have been exciting for the school as we have pushed ahead with our plans for expanding our pharmacy education program,” said Robert Blouin, Pharm.D., dean of the school. “We are now far enough along in our preparations that we can confirm that UNC-Chapel Hill pharmacy students in Chapel Hill and Elizabeth City will be joined by a new group in Asheville next fall.”

Kevin Almond, the school’s associate dean for advancement, will oversee the new program in Asheville as interim executive associate dean. Almond is a 1983 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and a licensed pharmacist. He has been with the school for 19 years.

In April, the UNC Carolina Board of Governors approved the school’s plans to bring its doctor of pharmacy program to Asheville. The plan expands the school’s successful partnership with Elizabeth City State University that began in 2005. The Elizabeth City partnership program graduated its second class in May.

“Chapel Hill’s pharmacy program at UNC Asheville is a tremendous example of how UNC institutions working together can benefit our students, our region and the economic future of North Carolina,” said UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder.

Asheville was considered the natural choice for a second satellite pharmacy program because of the close working partnership between the UNC Asheville, Mission Health System and UNC-Chapel Hill. The program in Asheville, like its counterpart in Elizabeth City, will educate more pharmacists in an area of North Carolina that does not have enough health-care providers in general.

“We are delighted with the speed with which this expansion is moving forward,” said Dale Fell, M.D., vice president and chief medical officer of Mission Health System. “Given the shortage of pharmacists in the 18 western North Carolina counties, it can’t come soon enough.”

The UNC Eshleman School of Pharmacy recognized the need for more health-care practitioners in western North Carolina and made expansion into the area part of its strategic plan five years ago, Blouin said. The satellite program could enroll up to 40 doctor of pharmacy students a year. The doctor of pharmacy, or Pharm.D., is the professional degree required to practice as a pharmacist.

Students interested in enrolling in the Pharm.D. program must apply through PharmCAS, a centralized application service, at www.pharmcas.org. They must also complete a supplemental application available through the school’s website. More information can be found at pharmacy.unc.edu/pharmd. The deadline for applications is Nov. 1.

UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy contact: David Etchison, (919) 966-7744, david_etchison@unc.edu.