In the pursuit and attainment of excellence, the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy (TCOP) is guided by the mission to revolutionize health as it becomes the pacesetter for pharmacy education in an ever-changing healthcare field. Personalized medicine is a key part of the future of healthcare, and that’s where pharmaceutical compounding plays a role.

USF TCOP has a non-sterile compounding lab that provides the setting for the education and training to current and future pharmacists and pharmacy technicians through an in-depth, hands-on continuing education (CE) program. “We are the only college in Florida and one of the few across the Nation that provides a CE program in compounding,” Vijaykumar Sutariya, MPharm, PhD, RPh, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at USF TCOP, said. “The open lab has all the equipment required, from the laminar flow hood for sterile preparations, mortars and pestles, balances, mixers, ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, dissolution testers, disintegration testers and density testers.”

Trainees also benefit from regular collaboration with the USF Clinical Investigational Research Pharmacy (CIRP) and their sterile clean room located on the sixth floor of the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare. The primary function of CIRP is to conduct double blinded studies and appropriate procurement, storage, documentation, control, sterile preparation, distribution and disposal of investigational products for clinical trial patients.

Currently, the non-sterile lab is located on the University of South Florida’s Tampa Campus, but it will soon be moving downtown to Water Street Tampa and into the new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, Taneja College of Pharmacy and Heart Institute. The new space will provide room for a modern, state-of-the-art pharmaceutical compounding lab with mobile workstations.

The U.S. Pharmacopeia Convention (USP) formally defines compounding as, “the preparation, mixing, assembling, altering, packaging, and labeling of a drug, drug-delivery device, or device in accordance with a licensed practitioner’s prescription, medication order, or initiative based on the practitioner/patient/pharmacist/compounder relationship in the course of professional practice.”

Traditionally, patients are prescribed manufactured or mass-produced drug products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to treat their illnesses. According to the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), pharmaceutical compounding comes in when patients have special needs that prevents them from being able to take medications already on the commercial market. A few examples of customized medications include changing the strength or dosage; adding flavor to make the drug more appealing to a child or pet; reformulating the drug to exclude an unwanted, nonessential ingredient, such as lactose, gluten, or a dye to which a patient is allergic; changing the form of the drug, such as from oral to suppository for a patient who has difficulty swallowing; and providing access to a drug that was discontinued from the commercial market. The practice of compounding is regulated by state boards of pharmacy and does not include making copies of commercially available drug products, as this is not allowed by law. There are currently 7,500 pharmacies in the United States that specialize in compounding services. USF Health Pharmacy Plus on the first floor of the Morsani Center offers compounding services for medications that can be customized in a non-sterile environment such as topical pain creams for a USF athlete or an Orthopedic and Sports Medicine patient.

In addition to a brand-new lab, USF TCOP is developing a unique certificate program in pharmaceutical compounding. “The certificate program will be great for undergraduate students who are interested in going into pharmacy, so they can see what compounding is before they make the decision to come to the pharmacy program,” Dr. Sutariya said. USF TCOP PharmD students can also pursue the certificate for more exposure into the practice of compounding beyond the three courses already built into the PharmD program. “If a student would like to open their own compounding pharmacy or work for one, the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy is the best place to start their career.”

USF Health Dean of the Taneja College of Pharmacy Dr. Kevin Sneed discusses the role pharmacists play in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Sneed stresses how pharmacists are helping find promising treatments, connecting with patients virtually to go over their medication regimens and further strengthening the healthcare sector’s approach to fighting the pandemic. This is the seventh in an eight-part series looking at the way COVID -19 is impacting the way we live, work and access health care.

Tampa, Fla.  (Oct. 17) — Back from last week’s trip to Puerto Rico, USF Health’s Dr. Asa Oxner discussed her recent experience treating patients and assessing critical medical needs in outlying rural areas of the hurricane-ravaged island.

Dr. Oxner spoke with local news media outside the USF Health Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare.  She was joined by USF Health Director of Safety and Preparedness Don Mullins, who oversaw the Oct. 11 delivery to Puerto Rico of 1,500 pounds of USF Health-donated medications and supplies aboard a jet chartered by the Tampa Bay Rays for a medical humanitarian mission.

“We saw lots of devastation – power lines cut in half, laying across roads and homes, bridges down and roads full of debris,” Dr. Oxner said.

Dr. Asa Oxner of the USF Health Department of Internal Medicine speaks with local news media about ongoing USF Health disaster relief efforts in Puerto Rico following her return from the island.

Dr. Oxner and Dr. Elimarys Perez-Colon, both assistant professors in the Morsani College of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, spent five days in Puerto Rico working out of hospitals and shelters in devastated rural areas of Puerto Rico.  They also assisted in sorting and delivering supplies and medicine, — including insulin, IV fluids and tubing, and specialized baby formula — donated by USF Health, Tampa General Hospital and other provider partners.

Hospitals in urban areas like San Juan and Ponce where power and water have been restored are rebounding, and most of those critically injured from the hurricane have been treated and are recovering, Dr. Oxner said.

“The long-term health concern is patients with chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and respiratory disorders who cannot access care,” she said.

They live in the central mountainous region of the island hit hardest by the hurricane, and mudslides continue to make many roads difficult to navigate, she added. “They will continue to have shortages in medications for chronic conditions, because the supply chain has been disrupted.”

A dozen cases of leptospirosis, a waterborne bacterial disease, have been reported to the Puerto Rico Department of Health, Dr. Oxner said, adding that the island is also at high risk for diseases like cholera that can emerge after disasters in places with contaminated water.

Dr. Oxner, who spent a year in 2014 helping patients infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone, has always been interested in helping underserved populations impacted by disparities in health care. “Those are the patients I connect with,” she said.

Dr. Oxner is one of 12 Spanish-speaking USF Health doctors, many with disaster experience, who will travel to Puerto Rico over the next two months. She plans to return to Puerto Rico at the end of October.

You can help with USF Health’s relief efforts in Puerto Rico.  Go to the USF Herd Funder site to contribute.

-Photo by Sandra C. Roa, University Communications and Marketing

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USF College of Pharmacy is transforming pharmacy practice to meet the demands of the ever-changing field of health care.

The USF Health college strongly emphasizes interprofessional education to prepare the pharmacists of the future and improve patient care.

That’s one of the biggest transformations happening at the USF College of Pharmacy.

“We believe team care is the best care,” said Kevin Sneed, PhamD, founding dean of the USF College of Pharmacy. “So, we’ve incorporated interprofessional education into our curriculum to prepare students to work closely together with doctors, nurses, physical therapists and other health professionals to improve health outcomes.”

Kevin Sneed, PharmD, dean of the USF College of Pharmacy, demonstrates emerging technology in pharmacy to fourth-year students Sidorella Gllava and Tyler Cureton.

The USF College of Pharmacy collaborates with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and other USF Health colleges to provide hands-on training to students in clinical settings and simulation environments. Richard Roetzheim, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, has helped USF College of Pharmacy move that idea forward since the college opened its doors in 2011.

“An effective relationship and communication between pharmacists and physicians starts at health colleges,” Dr. Roetzheim said. “As physicians, we can’t take care of patients alone. Pharmacists bring a different perspective. So, we have to train students in medicine and pharmacy to work together as one team to provide adequate care. And we’ve done that successfully here at USF for years.”

Pharmacy continues to grow and evolve — allowing pharmacists to become part of a team-based healthcare delivery. Now, more than ever, they play a big role in the patients’ recovery and contribute to better health outcomes.

“Pharmacy is not what it used to be,” Dr. Sneed said. “Once the diagnosis has been made, the pharmacists now follow the patients all the way through recovery — administering medications, providing medication education and counseling, communicating with their families, giving lifestyle and diet tips, and consistently checking in with the doctors to help manage patient illness and recovery.”

The USF College of Pharmacy has embraced that change. That’s why the college trains students alongside USF Health Morsani College of Medicine students and physicians in a high-tech environment at the USF Health Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare. They look at patients together, discuss the diagnoses and lay out a plan of care.

“Practicing what we learn in the classroom alongside medical students and doctors helps us become better prepared,” said Dorissa Cortes, a fourth-year student at the USF College of Pharmacy. “It also reminds us about what each person brings to the table, and how we use that to help provide better care for our patients.”

Second-year students, Raisah Salhab, USF College of Pharmacy, and Hannah Shin, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, read a patient’s medical history during a simulated medical consultation.

Barry Silverstone, a patient who suffers from a blood disorder, has visited Dr. Sneed and other USF Health doctors in the USF Health Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare for years. Silverstone said a close collaboration between his doctors, nurses and pharmacists has kept his health in check.

“I feel a sense of wellbeing when my doctor and pharmacist communicate about my recovery process,” Silverstone said. “I speak to Dr. Sneed regularly about my medication, what to take and when to take it. Our communication has kept me healthy longer and my blood level consistent.”

The USF College of Pharmacy is leading the way in team-based training. The college’s ultimate goal is to continue to prepare the best pharmacists in the country to meet the needs of tomorrow’s health care and improve patients’ lives.

“The future of pharmacy is right here at USF Health,” Dr. Sneed said. “Our college is ready to face whatever challenges health care brings. We’re committed to our students’ success for the benefit of the patient. This is the best place to be.”

Story and video by Vjollca Hysenlika
Photos by Fredrick Coleman