Business on the Hill: Pharmacy Students Visit Independent Pharmacies

| 2015 Q1 | story by JACKIE HOSEY    | photos provided by KU ENDOWMENT |

Pharmacy students visit Clark Drug Pharmacy.

Eighteen students from the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy spent three days of their winter break traveling across central and southwest Kansas on their way to visit 14 independent pharmacies and owners.

The annual trip is sponsored by KU–NCPA (National Community Pharmacists Association), a professional pharmacy student organization that promotes independent pharmacy as a career option. Each of the students, who were on the road Wednesday-Friday, Jan. 7-9, is interested in a career in independent, community pharmacy.

NCPA co-adviser and Senior Associate Dean Gene Hotchkiss coordinates the trip as well as a second trip during spring break. He said the visitation trips build relationships between students and pharmacy owners with the hope that those connections will lead to transitions of ownership and continuation of vital pharmacy care services to Kansans.

“Independent community pharmacies are a critical health care resource for rural communities,” Hotchkiss said. “In many instances, in addition to traditional prescription services, they provide a broad scope of ancillary services, including medical supplies, durable medical equipment and respiratory support supplies, equipment and oxygen.”

Pharmacy Dean Ken Audus accompanied the group, which made stops in Emporia, El Dorado, Augusta, Greensburg, Meade, Ulysses, Garden City, Scott City, Cimarron, Dodge City, Kinsley and Wichita.