Roseman University spectRUm

INSIDE: Alumni Reflections PG. 4 Roseman Alumni Changemakers PG. 12 Dr. Thomas Hunt PG. 16

ROSEMAN UNIVERSITY by the numbers

It started with a need. In 1999, a shortage of pharmacists in Nevada was occurring at the very same time that a groundswell of demand for pharmacy education was growing. The University’s three founders, Drs. Harry Rosenberg, Renee Coffman and Charles Lacy, each coming from healthcare education, contributed $5,000 to start the Nevada College of Pharmacy—the first pharmacy school in Nevada. What is now Roseman University of Health Sciences remains the only pharmacy school in the state. The establishment of Nevada College of Pharmacy was a bold move. There hadn’t been a new college of pharmacy started in over 50 years that was not part of an existing institution. There were a lot of obstacles for such a project—financing, obtaining IRS non-profit status, incorporating, finding adequate facilities, gaining accreditation, obtaining licensure from the Nevada Commission on Postsecondary Education, and much more. To assist in this endeavor, the founders enlisted the support of the Nevada pharmacy community, contacting leaders in pharmacy organizations such as chain pharmacy managers, hospital pharmacy directors, pharmacists leading home health companies, and the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy. These individuals became the nucleus of the eventual Nevada College of Pharmacy Board of Trustees, and many are still valued members of the Board today. With the help, support, and advice of these caring leaders in the pharmacy community, the Nevada College of Pharmacy began to take shape. With the establishment of a transformative educational model—the Roseman University Six-Point Mastery Learning Model—focused on excellence, the College began to graduate healthcare professionals recognized as highly competent and compassionate. The result was a trajectory of rapid growth. and career opportunities. It was in that year that Nevada College of Pharmacy became a university. In 2006, the University expanded into Utah to meet the demand for pharmacy education in the state. In the following two years, new programs in nursing and dental medicine were added in Nevada to meet the need for more caring and compassionate healthcare professionals. The Colleges of Nursing and Dental Medicine were later expanded into Utah and new academic programs were added. The University created clinical practices in dental medicine to provide much needed patient care in Nevada and Utah. Today, Roseman University is poised to grow further to meet the healthcare needs of its communities. In 2013, in response to the dire need for physicians in Nevada, the University began creating a College of Medicine. The establishment of the College of Medicine, offering an MD degree, is a natural evolution for the University and reinforces its commitment as a transforming force in the most vital areas of healthcare education. The future College of Medicine complements the University’s mission to advance healthcare education through its innovative educational model and to positively impact the health, education, and wellness of the communities it serves. With the help of community partners, the development of the MDgranting medical education program is progressing. In 2018, Roseman University established Roseman Medical Group, a medical practice to provide primary care and other specialties to the Las Vegas community. The practice offers a tremendous opportunity to build additional clinical practice sites that will allow Roseman to become a major provider of critical healthcare services in the region, with emphasis on underserved and rural areas. Responding to the Healthcare Needs of NEVADA & UTAH By Jason Roth

Roseman actively listened to the healthcare community not only in Nevada, but also the surrounding region, looking for ways to respond to healthcare workforce needs. Its first expansion, in 2004, included the creation of a Master of Business Administration degree to provide pharmacy students an opportunity to enhance their education

With so much accomplished in just 20 years, Roseman University is looking forward to even more growth in future decades. To learn more, join Roseman University for its first-ever State of the University on April 16, 2020 at the Henderson Campus and April 23, 2020 at the South Jordan Campus.

COMMEMORATING 20 Years of Roseman University

Last month, community partners and alumni joined Roseman University for the Community Launch of 20th Anniversary celebrations on the Henderson and South Jordan Campuses. At the events, Roseman University Co-founders, Drs. Harry Rosenberg, Renee Coffman and Charles Lacy, unveiled an artistic timeline featuring important milestones in the University's short, but rich history. The timelines are prominently displayed on both campuses sharing with students, faculty, staff and visitors the remarkable growth Roseman University has experienced in just 20 years.

Roseman University Alumni CHANGEMAKERS By Jason Roth

Change in healthcare is neither easy nor immediate due to its size and complexity. To effectively promote change and successfully address humanity’s greatest healthcare challenges requires the tenacity of disrupters—forward-thinkers who recognize a problem and become vocal advocates for raising awareness and influencing thoughtful solutions. These are healthcare’s changemakers.

With Roseman University’s alumni numbering more than 6,500, many have had the opportunity to become changemakers. Armed with confidence, knowledge and skills, these healthcare professionals have led the way in promoting change in their communities, professions, and in some cases, addressing national or global healthcare challenges.

Since graduating from Roseman University College of Pharmacy in 2007 and pursuing graduate education and research in infectious diseases, Dr. Ravina Kullar has dedicated her career to finding solutions to antibiotic resistance, one of the greatest threats to global health. Over the past decade, she has emerged as an expert in the worldwide effort to tackle a growing crisis.

“Unfortunately, much of the public believes that we have a surplus of antibiotics, but we don't. We are currently living in the post-antibiotic era,” said Dr. Kullar. “Clinicians are responsible for this antibiotic resistance crisis via overusing antibiotics in their patients—giving antibiotics to patients ‘just because’ when there is no clear bacterial indication—and the public is responsible for overusing antibiotics when they are not necessary.”

Watch Dr. Ravina Kullar deliver her talk, “Antibiotic Resistance: What You Can Do to Prevent a Future Pandemic” at TEDxBend

The result is frightening. According to the Centers for Disease Control, antibiotic resistance is now one of the biggest public health challenges of our time, with at least two million people in the United States getting antibiotic-resistant infections and at least 23,000 people dying each year. Worldwide, an estimated 700,000 die annually due to antibiotic resistance, and it threatens the world’s progress in healthcare, food production and ultimately life expectancy.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has made it a priority to put antibiotic resistance at the forefront of its agenda as the crisis can only be solved if the entire world works together. Dr. Kullar said, “Whether it's the ‘nightmare bacteria’ or another resistant bacteria, they have been prevalent in other parts of the world for years. Bacteria could care less about borders—they don’t need a passport to enter and exit—we need to transform our minds from that silo mentality thinking. What's happening globally is clearly affecting us now in the U.S.”

Dr. Kullar has embraced the WHO’s push for global awareness of antibiotic resistance becoming a highly respected expert educating the public and healthcare community through appearances at TED talks and on nationally syndicated public health television programs shows such as The Doctors.

It’s not just the staggering statistics that spurred Dr. Kullar’s efforts to educate the public and clinicians about antibiotic resistance. As she shared for the first time in a TEDx Bend talk in 2018, it was a defining moment that forced her to grasp the dire crisis. In her first year of clinical residency in a hospital a little over 10 years ago, she met a patient named Jonathan. A young and active newlywed, Jonathan was in the hospital for a broken femur resulting from a skiing accident. After surgery, Jonathan contracted an infection.

Dr. Kullar, the pharmacist on the team caring for Jonathan, started treating him with antibiotics, as is standard, but ordered labs to confirm the type of infection Jonathan had contracted and what antibiotics would be most effective in treating it. Days later, Jonathan’s health was deteriorating. At the same time, Dr. Kullar received his lab report.

“I looked at that computer screen trying to figure out how to treat this infection, but there was the letter ‘R’ for resistant written next to every single antibiotic, meaning that the bacteria would not even respond to any antibiotics,” said Dr. Kullar. “I could do nothing.”

Ultimately, Jonathan succumbed to the infection that had spread throughout his body and into his brain. He did not survive to celebrate his first wedding anniversary.

“This experience fundamentally changed the course of my personal and professional life,” Dr. Kullar said in her talk. “It was a pivotal moment that led me into specializing in infectious disease research and eventually defending my thesis on the exact resistant pathogen that consumed Jonathan.”

Since that experience, Dr. Kullar has published over 30 research papers on antibiotic resistance and has set out on a mission as a U.S. ambassador on antibiotic resistance, presenting at conferences around the world. In 2016, she was invited to the United Nations General Assembly Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance — Forum on Sustainable Access to Effective Antibiotics.

Her overall goal is to arm the public with three action items that they can start implementing today to be part of the solution.

Longtime Employees Reflect on Their Experiences at By Rachael Thomas ROSEMAN UNIVERSITY

The University is where it is today because of the dedication and support of employees. Over the past 20 years Roseman has had many unforgettable employees, some of which have been at the University for over ten years. Read below about some of their favorite memories and most rewarding aspects of working at Roseman University.

WESTON BOYACK Director of Finance and Administration “Roseman has given me the opportunity to be successful by working with teams inside and outside of finance. Because of Roseman’s enhanced growth, I have gained experience to help manage change and how to operate as a leader. It is professionally rewarding and will help carry me throughout my career.”

GAYE D’AGATA Technical Services Librarian “The most rewarding part of my job has been being able to share who Roseman is with the community. When I leave work at the end of the day, I’m still wearing my ID. If I stop to run an errand on my way home, almost always the person helping me notices my ID and asks me about it. Their knowledge varies, but always includes favorable comments. I often find myself giving a brief history of our growth, including our expansion to South Jordan and Summerlin and the number and kinds of health programs we have and the community activities in which our students participate.”

DR. JENÉ HURLBUT VBSN & RNPC Project Director Professor “Being involved over the last several years with the education of so many students who went on to become successful practicing registered nurses across the country has been the most rewarding aspect of my tenure at Roseman.”

LINDA NEWILL Director of Student Accounts, Bursar “My favorite memories include seeing the students walk across the stage to receive their diplomas or seeing a former student in the community working in their profession.”

SARAH ISAAC Accounting Operations Manager “Watching Roseman grow into the University it is today has been the most rewarding part of my tenure with the University. When I started, Roseman was the University of Southern Nevada with only a Pharmacy and MBA program. It has been a joy to see Roseman expand its programs and campuses. I'm excited to see what comes next!”

JACKIE SEIP Executive Assistant to the President “The most rewarding part of my job has been being at Roseman University from the beginning and seeing the growth. It has been so rewarding to me, both personally and professionally, to have been part of the development and growth of Roseman. It’s been a wonderful journey.”