The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) has selected The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy to receive the 2019-2020 Lawrence C. Weaver Transformative Community Service Award for its significant commitment to addressing unmet community needs through education, practice and research that go beyond the traditional service role of academic pharmacy.
Representatives from the UT Austin College of Pharmacy will be honored on July 19 during the Opening General Session at Pharmacy Education 2020, the AACP Annual Meeting, in Long Beach, Calif.
The award, which consists of a commemorative sculpture and financial stipend, highlights community service as an important element of the academic mission and recognizes institutions that serve as examples of social responsiveness on the part of the academic health professions community.
“We are extremely honored to receive the Lawrence C. Weaver Transformative Community Service Award,” said M. Lynn Crismon, dean of the UT College of Pharmacy. “This award is a testimony to the commitment that our students, faculty and staff have to providing service to our communities. While many people should be congratulated and thanked, special recognition goes to Dr. Veronica Young who developed and implemented our P3 capstone Population Health Program. I was impressed with the completed team projects, and moved by the close relationships community organizations developed with our student pharmacists.”
Among the UT College of Pharmacy’s exemplary programs is the required Population Health Program in the P3 year, which provides the opportunity for students to work with community partners on longitudinal projects that are created from the needs of the community and the community partners. In the first year, there were 22 longitudinal projects with unique outcomes that have more than 556,000 direct beneficiaries and over 30 million indirect beneficiaries. Other UT Austin programs have received local and national recognition, including Operation Naloxone, a campus-wide educational outreach program with free overdose response trainings, and Stop the Bleed, an initiative where student pharmacists trained more than 600 public school teachers and staff in Laredo, Texas, to be able to respond to major bleeding events.
“The impact of the UT Austin programs and initiatives involving patient care services, current epidemics, social determinants of health, and global health has been long-standing and tremendous on patients and communities within and beyond the Texas boarders,” said Lynette R. Bradley-Baker, AACP senior vice president of public affairs and engagement. “Community service and engagement as well as continuous improvement is a distinct aspect of the UT Austin culture and permeates in many ways amongst its student pharmacists, staff, faculty and administration.”
Pharmacy Education 2020 will be held July 18-22, in Long Beach, Calif. The conference offers educational programming, exhibits, networking events and award presentations.
Founded in 1900, AACP is the national organization representing the interests of pharmacy education. AACP is comprised of all accredited colleges and schools with pharmacy degree programs, including more than 6,500 faculty, 60,600 students enrolled in professional programs and 4,400 individuals pursuing graduate study. Learn more about AACP.
Download the news release about the prestigious award.