Buford Road Pharmacy Wins Crystal APPLE Award

By Cassie Williams
VCU Communications and Public Relations

The Buford Road Pharmacy has been chosen as one of eight recipients of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's 2008 Crystal APPLE award. The Chesterfield County pharmacy is an independent site with a pharmaceutical care clinic and is the primary site for residency for Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy students.

Dean Victor A. Yanchick, Ph.D.; Beverly Talluto, Pharm.D. associate dean of the Professional Experience Program; and Ronald G. Davis, preceptor and site administrator; are the three key members of the academic-practice partnership recognized. Each will receive a $1,000 honorarium for professional development and a travel stipend to attend the AACP Interim Meeting in Washington, D.C., in February 2009, where they will present.

AACP established the award program to acknowledge excellence in academic-practice partnerships. The award recognizes the contributions of the faculty and administrators of colleges and schools of pharmacy that successfully conduct and support quality experiential education.

Recognition is based on demonstrating evidence of the areas of evaluation, which include a patient care model, integrating student learning experiences to meet educational outcomes, practice site support for patient care and commitment to education.

Award recipients are chosen from a national pool of nominations and are selected by reviewers in two stages. Other 2008 winners include programs from Samford University, the University of Maryland, Northeastern University, the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina, the University of Cincinnati and Texas Tech University.

The AACP, with support from Merck & Company, created the Academic-Practice Partnership Initiative (APPI) in 2004 to identify strategies and develop resources to increase capacity and enhance quality, efficiency and effectiveness of professional experience programs.

The VCU School of Pharmacy is rated among the nation's top professional graduate programs.