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ENHANCING PATIENT CARE
EARNS UH PHARMACY STUDENTS TOP HONORS
First through Fourth Place Swept by UH in Texas Pharmacy
Association Competition
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: Photo of the winners is available
on the Web at www.uh.edu/pharmacy/tpa04photo.htm.
HOUSTON, Aug. 3, 2004 – Projects addressing asthma management,
community wellness, high school outreach and medication labeling
earned UH College of Pharmacy students top honors in a recent Texas
Pharmacy Association (TPA) competition.
Placing first through fourth place, University of Houston College
of Pharmacy students swept the Texas Pharmacy Association Innovative
Pharmacy Project Competition recently held at the 125th Annual TPA
Meeting and Expo in Dallas. Additional awards included the membership
award from the Texas Pharmacy Association, Academy of Students of
Pharmacy (TPA-ASP). Coming in ahead of the University of Texas at
Austin, Texas Tech and Texas Southern University pharmacy colleges
and schools, the UH College of Pharmacy won for having the highest
percentage of a student body as members of the TPA-ASP. Two UH alumni
also were honored at the annual TPA meeting.
Sponsored by AstraZeneca and Elan Pharmaceuticals, the Innovative
Pharmacy Project Competition judged projects on their execution,
from the proposal to data collection. Submissions were to utilize
practices that could be applied to implement new policies to enhance
patient care outcomes or medication control and delivery.
“The level of accomplishment of our students in this competition
is a reflection of the high quality of education they receive from
our college,” said Sunny E. Ohia, dean of the UH College of
Pharmacy.
Awarded first place, second-year student Isaac Lopez Jr. argued
that several issues exist with over-the-counter medication labels
in his project titled “Over-the-counter medication use enhanced
with bilingual product information labels.” Lopez focused
on such factors as the small font size of text that affect the elderly
and visually impaired, complex medication terminology and unavailability
of multilingual product information for non-English speaking populations.
Under the direction of Clinical Professor Sujit Sansgiry, Lopez
proposed to develop and evaluate bilingual product information labels
in Spanish and English as compared to other over-the-counter marketed
labels. After surveying participants in the study, who evaluated
both the old and new labeling format and Lopez’ proposed format,
he found that, overall, participants responded more positively to
the newer bilingual label designed by Lopez.
In second place, fourth-year students Brice Labruzzo and Denise
Martinez participated in a high school outreach program in which
they visited five area high schools to educate students on the pharmacy
profession. During the next year, the UH College of Pharmacy will
track the response received from interested students, several of
whom already have contacted the college for information on the professional
program.
A community wellness initiative by fourth-year student Molly Graham
captured third place. She held a series of seminars to educate the
public on diabetes, hypertension, stroke, cholesterol, MEDS for
Kids, Herbal and Nutritional Supplements, and osteoporosis.
“I took a couple of packets home to my mother who suffers
from diabetes,” said first-year UH pharmacy student Arshunda
Washington. “She is very resistant to reading about diabetes
and asking questions. Because the information from the seminar was
presented in a more readable and understandable format, my mother
started following some of the instructions and recipes in an attempt
to make a positive change in her lifestyle.”
While only the students from the top three projects were asked to
make a presentation at the conference, a UH student also took home
the fourth place prize. Studying pharmacists’ impact on asthma
management in the community, fourth-year student Rosalyn Adigun
assessed the impact that a pharmacist-patient relationship in a
community setting can have in improving the management of asthma.
The two UH College of Pharmacy alumni to receive awards at this
TPA gathering are 1965 alum Celso Cuellar Jr. and 1985 alum Carolyn
Hilscher. Cuellar received the Local Association Leadership Award,
based on excellence in programs and meetings, member communications,
involvement in government affairs, public relations activities,
membership growth and continuing education. Hilscher received the
Bowl of Hygeia Award, recognizing a pharmacist who has exhibited
significant involvement in community service activities.
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About the UH College of Pharmacy
For more than 50 years, the University of Houston College of Pharmacy
has shaped aspiring pharmacists, scientists and teachers. The college
offers a Pharm. D. degree, as well as a master’s in pharmacy
administration and Ph.D. in pharmaceutics and pharmacology. Accredited
by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education, it is one of
nearly 90 pharmacy colleges in the United States, with more than
45 basic science and clinical faculty, nearly 610 adjunct faculty
and preceptors and 900 current pre-pharmacy and professional students.
The college has facilities both on the UH campus and in the Texas
Medical Center. At TMC, students have the opportunity to train with
physicians, medical students and members of UH clinical faculty.
In addition to faculty and staff offices, TMC also houses research
laboratories, classrooms and the Contemporary Pharmacy Practice
Laboratory.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
To receive UH science news via e-mail, visit www.uh.edu/admin/media/sciencelist.html
For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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