Teaching

The Clinical Pharmacy Services team is dedicated to educating future pharmacists about pharmacy practice in the field of managed care. When possible, we also discuss managed care residencies and related career paths.

To further these goals in academia, many of our pharmacists serve as adjunct faculty at local colleges of pharmacy. Our contributions vary:

• Offering a managed care advanced pharmacy practice experience (student rotations)
• Collaborating with various faculty members to deliver customized lectures for their curriculum, including a professional elective course in managed care pharmacy practice
• Lecturing to audiences ranging from first- to fourth-professional-year pharmacy students
• Introducing managed care pharmacy to students in various stages of their academic careers

Most of our preceptors are residency-trained and actively practicing in the field. As a result, our team offers a real-world perspective with real-world examples that enhance the students’ overall learning experiences.

Classes We Coordinate

Pharmacy Practice in Managed Care at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences–Boston (MCPHS–Boston): Our team provides an overview of managed care principles with emphasis on selected topics to illustrate the role of pharmacy practice, including real-life opportunities and challenges. Students learn about all aspects of managed care pharmacy — from the use of cost-containment strategies and evidence-based medicine in formulary management to the examination of new developments.

Guest Lectures

Introductory Pharmacy Experience Program at MCPHS–Boston: This course introduces students to the role of the pharmacist in a variety of practice settings. Our team provides a career-focused lecture introducing students to the basics of managed care pharmacy, the role of a managed care pharmacist, and entering the field early in their academic careers.

Global Infectious Disease at MCPHS–Boston: An interdisciplinary course designed to expose students to a broad range of topics in global infectious diseases, this course provides a specific focus on topics in travel medicine in the context of global infectious disease. Our team participates in delivery in a number of lectures within this course.

Research Methods in Pharmacoepidemiology at MCPHS–Boston
Students are introduced to pharmacoepidemiology and the concepts and methods used to measure the source, diffusion, and use of medications in populations. Emphasis is placed on determining pharmaceutical care outcomes and identifying potential or real drug use problems. Through these core pharmacoepidemiological concepts, the course provides students with a fundamental understanding of medical research and how it applies to clinical practice — skills that are used every day in the world of managed care. Our team delivers lectures specific to our expertise, particularly related to drug utilization review.