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Pharmacist shortage; MCW, UWM partner
The Medical College of Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee have partnered for a dual-degree program to help ease a nationwide pharmacist shortage.
MILWAUKEE - A nationwide pharmacist shortage forced some retail pharmacies to cut hours earlier this year, but a new partnership in Milwaukee is cutting the amount of time it takes for students to get a degree – helping them reach the workforce sooner.
"I knew that I wanted to be a pharmacist since I was 12 just because I wanted to help people," said pharmacy student Diana Victory.
As a second-year student in the Medical College of Wisconsin's Doctor of Pharmacy program, Victory is well on her way. The already-accelerated program is now part of a partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Instead of the traditional eight years, a dual-degree program allows students to earn their bachelor's degree and Pharm D in a total of six.
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MCW said it is vital to increasing the number of pharmacists amid a staffing shortage, saying in a news release that Walgreens alone reported 50 open pharmacist positions across Wisconsin. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of pharmacists.
Pharmacy students
"We’re the most underutilized health care professional out there, but we’re the most accessible," said George MacKinnon, MCW's School of Pharmacy dean, adding that there's room for the role of pharmacists to expand. "The time to see a physician and get into an office has only increased, and we think we’re at least an access point to take some of that burden off our colleagues."
Leaders from both MCW and UWM said the new partnership makes getting a pharmacy doctorate more accessible for students, saving them time and tuition money. They said it offers a more efficient route can cut through barriers, especially for first-generation students.
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"If we look at UWM’s students, a lot of them are financially stressed, and having three years instead of four years of tuition (for a bachelor's degree) makes a big difference," said Scott Gronert, UWM's College of Letters and Science dean. "By linking the degrees together very early on, they’ve got a path all laid out."
MacKinnon said the partnership can also bring more diversity to the profession.
"We want individuals that resemble the communities they’re from, that speak the languages they speak, to go back to those communities and care for individuals," MacKinnon said.
For her degree, Victory is too far down the road to be part of the program, but said the accelerated path would have made a difference for her – and will for others.
Pharmacy students
"For people like me who have known they want to be pharmacists for so long, that means everything, because you can just jump right into it and start helping your patients," she said.
Even though the partnership is an accelerated option, students are still learning what they need – forgoing summer breaks, MacKinnon said.
Gronert said nearly 90% of students stay in southeast Wisconsin.
"So a program like this, we’re raising the pharmacists and PharmDs who will be in the area," he said.