Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Pharmacy

New #LIPhE Curriculum Set for 2021

LECOM plans to launch a new curriculum in the fall of 2021 known as #LIPhE. The L stands for LECOM and our School of Pharmacy. Established in 2002, the LECOM School of Pharmacy began with an innovative accelerated pathway in Erie, Pennsylvania, and quickly grew to provide a fouryear option to students in Bradenton, Florida. Continuing our record of innovation and student-centered education, the distance education pathway – one of only two in the country at the time – admitted its first students in 2014. In August 2021, our next chapter begins.

The I in #LIPhE stands for individualized and our commitment to providing an instructional environment to meet the needs of every student. A modular, systems-based curriculum will allow students to focus on clinical applications in their first term. Our new first-term applied patient care labs are already starting to do this. These modules will also be aligned with longitudinal courses to reinforce key topics like pharmacy calculations and pharmacy law. The result is a curriculum that is active, engaging and student-driven in order to make our graduates similarly active and engaging clinicians.

The “Ph” is for the pharmacy profession and LECOM School of Pharmacy’s commitment to graduating highly skilled clinicians. Pharmacists are the most accessible health care professional and they understand the importance of individualization when it comes to successful medication regimens. LECOM is transforming its curriculum to allow students to individualize their learning to meet the needs of patients in the changing health care landscape.

The E in #LIPhE stands for education and represents LECOM’s mission to prepare students to become pharmacy practitioners through programs of excellence in education. LECOM is a teaching-focused institution with a full faculty devoted to teaching and exploring new and engaging pedagogies with the goal of providing the best educational experience possible. Education is the foundation of all that we do and all that we are.

It’s pharmacy school, the way YOU want to do it. Your LIPhE! – Your Way!

Script Your Future Champions

The LECOM School of Pharmacy is proud of a history of winning in the National Consumers League Script Your Future competition. Since the competition started in 2012,

LECOM has been recognized as a winner, finalist or honorable mention each year. In 2020, LECOM was the recipient of the Media Outreach Focused Award. LECOM believes “the community is our campus” and promotes a culture of service in our students. Our students excel in their devotion to the community and these accolades are a sign of their outstanding work. Additionally, each of the events that helped secure the Script Your Future win was done in collaboration with students from the College of Medicine and/or School of Dental Medicine, and each event was supervised by a member of the faculty. This victory was the result of innovative and enthusiastic students, interprofessional relationships, and dedicated faculty.

Interprofessional Education

The LECOM School of Pharmacy is thankful to be part of an institution with a variety of medical degree programs that allow students a rich interprofessional experience. Opportunities for interprofessional education and experiences grow each year; however, our first experience was developed by students and is called the Interprofessional Case Competition. In this competition, students from pharmacy, medicine and dental programs work in teams of five to six to solve a complex case. This opportunity allows students from all disciplines to learn together, gain a better understanding of what each professional student is learning and improve communication. In addition, faculty from all three programs work together to develop and score the competition, which fosters collaboration across programs.

Another interprofessional experience happens during the P3 year of the pharmacy program. In this educational opportunity, all third-year students meet with dental students to jointly interview patients in the LECOM Dental Clinic. The pharmacy students focus on gathering the patient’s medication history, which they review with a faculty preceptor. The students enjoy the opportunity to meet with real patients and the opportunity to work with the dental students.

Legislative Day Presence

LECOM Bradenton students attended Legislative Days at the Florida State Capitol on Jan. 21-23. Fourteen students and two faculty members represented LECOM and the profession at this important event. Several months prior to Legislative Days, student leaders Kelley Yeoman (Class of 2022), Jenna Cameron (Class of 2022), Matthew Haas (Class of 2022) and Demetrios Chagoya (Class of 2021) from the LECOM chapters of American Pharmacists Association, Student National Pharmaceutical Association, and Florida Society of Health System Pharmacists formed a committee and worked with students from other Florida schools to not only plan the event but also educate the student body with talking points about bills of interest, how to talk to a legislator in lay terms and the overall policy procedure.

One of the highlights was the Pharmacy Benefit Managers Reform Rally held outside of the Capitol. During this rally, students heard from doctors, pharmacists, representatives and patients about how PBMs affect the lives of patients, the cost of medications and the predatory practices under which some operate. The rally and visits to legislators was a positive step to changing and reforming this system.

The Benefit of a Distance Education Pathway

The third class of LECOM’s School of Pharmacy distance education pathway virtually celebrated commencement in June. Our previous experience using the technology needed to deliver an online program proved to be especially valuable as we quickly transitioned our other pathways to an online environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since all faculty teach in the distance education pathway, faculty were able to quickly transition to online with minimal disruption to student schedules and the learning experience. While LECOM is looking forward to repopulating its campuses with students, we are thankful for the expertise that we have in delivering high-quality online learning. The experience also has allowed us to think creatively about the curriculum we deliver and possible areas that can be strengthened with increased use of technology moving forward.

Strong Faculty and Student Relationships

The LECOM School of Pharmacy faculty establish strong relationships with students that often continue from the day a student interviews and continues throughout their professional careers. Dr. Stephanie Peshek interviewed a potential student named Jennifer (Piggot) Morrison for the Class of 2015. Their mentor and mentee relationship continued throughout school and concluded when Dr. Peshek served as the preceptor for Dr. Morrison’s final APPE at LECOM. After commencement, Dr. Morrison moved out of state to complete a managed care residency. The two stayed in touch and through their outstanding collaboration, published A Practical Guide to Pharmacoeconomics in February. This is just one example of how faculty and students team up to complete scholarly work and grow professionally.