LITTLE ROCK – University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy students and Kroger invite the public for free health screenings at 29 Kroger pharmacies throughout the state Oct. 5.

The screenings will include blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar checks and will be held on a walk-in basis from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. at all Kroger pharmacy locations in Batesville, Blytheville, Benton, Cabot, Conway, England, Hot Springs, Jacksonville, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Maumelle, North Little Rock, Russellville and West Memphis. At select locations, pharmacy students are partnering with students from the UAMS Department of Dietetics and Nutrition to offer nutrition and weight loss counseling.

This is the third year of the partnership, with nearly 100 students screening more than 1,100 patients at Kroger locations statewide last year. All screening supplies are being provided by Kroger, while all screenings will be conducted by UAMS College of Pharmacy students.

“We are proud to partner again with the UAMS College of Pharmacy and to have their expertise working with our valued pharmacy customers,” said Joe Bell, marketing and public affairs specialist with the Kroger Delta Division in Memphis. “We want our pharmacies to have open, friendly and personal relationships with the people they serve. This is a fantastic way for us to show customers that we care about their health.”

The event kicks off a series of activities sponsored by the UAMS College of Pharmacy student group – the American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists – to celebrate American Pharmacists Month.

“The theme again for this year is, ‘Know your medicine, know your pharmacist,’” said Eddie Dunn, Pharm.D., associate professor of pharmacy practice. “By sending our students out into pharmacies to offer a public service, we feel like we’re promoting active and beneficial relationships with pharmacies and their customers.”
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. Named best Little Rock metropolitan area hospital by U.S. News & World Report, it is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has more than 2,800 students and 790 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com.

By: Jocelyn Tovar, KARK 4 NEWS

They were up to their elbows in first hand medical experience.

Pharmacy camp at UAMS for high school students who applied from all over the state.

“To get an introduction to pharmacy and what it would be like to be a pharmacist as they prepare for their careers,” said Christel Cater the recruiting specialist for the college of pharmacy.

She said it’s a great opportunity for seniors as they prepare to graduate high school.

“In this lab it’s like a fake doctor’s office and they’re learning how to take blood pressure,” said real pharmacy student Melanie Sasse who helped them through the labs.

She’s there answer their questions, giving them a leg up from students who don’t get the opportunity.

“The fact they get to experience the daily routines lets them know this is something they’ll be passionate in the future,” she said.

So they’ll know exactly what it is they’re working for and why it’s important to work hard to attain it.

LITTLE ROCK – The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) awarded certificates and degrees today to 891 graduates of its five colleges and Graduate School during its commencement ceremony at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.

Diplomas were presented to 162 in the College of Medicine; 203 in the College of Nursing; 117 in the College of Pharmacy; 45 in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health; 92 in the Graduate School and 272 from the 21 academic programs that make up the College of Health Professions.

During the ceremony UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., presented Gov. Mike Beebe an Honorary Doctorate of Medical Arts and Humane Letters. Beebe has been a longtime UAMS supporter, from his 20 years as a state senator, a term as state attorney general and through two terms as governor.

May 10, 2013 | Smart phones could be part of the answer to a $100 billion problem facing the health care industry involving patients who don’t fully adhere to their prescribed medicine regimens, according to researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy.

But the potential that smartphone medication adherence applications hold is a largely untested and unregulated science. That’s what a team of researchers at the UAMS College of Pharmacy is trying to change after a first-ever study of its kind that evaluated features of medical adherence apps and identified the possibilities the technology holds. The complete study was published in the March-April edition of the prestigious Journal of American Pharmacists Association.