Skip to content
Department of Pharmacy

Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center

The Bracken Pharmacy Learning Center is named for L.D. Bracken and Jim L. Bracken, longtime leaders of the pharmacy profession in Washington state.

The center, which was renovated in 2012, provides an optimal environment for students and practitioners to learn the technical and clinical skills needed for patient-centered care.Bracken_Center

The center consists of six integrated learning areas: sterile products and biotechnology preparation room, automated dispensing equipment area, technology-supported learning center, patient education/nonprescription products, patient assessment room, and conference room.

The laboratory components of drug information, compounding, dispensing, communications and therapeutics coursework are all offered in the Center, and are supported by state-of-the-art computer, video and telecommunications equipment.

The center is used throughout the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum, and is also available to student groups and faculty advisers for meetings or special learning projects.

Sterile Products and Drug Product Quality Room

Equipped with a horizontal laminar airflow hood, two biological safety cabinets, automated pharmaceutical formulation equipment, dissolution apparatus and automated spectrophotometer, the Sterile Products and Drug Product Quality room is used to develop aseptic technique skills, teach quality assurance measures, and link the physical pharmacy and biological aspects of drug products – pharmaceutics, biopharmaceutics and chemical properties – with clinical principles and practices.

Learning Center

The Learning Center is the core area of the Bracken Center. There are multiple pharmacy work stations, each equipped with the following:

  • Pharmaceutical formulations (compounding) and dispensing equipment and supplies
  • PDX pharmacy dispensing system
  • Networked PC with Internet and Intranet access
  • Comprehensive text and computer-based references
  • Patient assessment equipment and supplies

The Learning Center also has a section for durable medical equipment, nonprescription products, and shared supplies and resources shelved in wall and floor cabinets lining each side of the room.

Audio-Video Suite

The newest addition to the Learning Center is an integrated suite of audio-video equipment featuring four ceiling mounted cameras that are used to record patient counseling sessions, provide feedback to students in communication skills development lessons, etc.

Patient Assessment Room

The patient assessment and counseling room is used to develop student skills in assessing and monitoring specific patient diseases. The Patient Assessment Laboratory (PAL) course uses this room extensively to teach students the “how to’s” associated with the knowledge they gain in the Applied Therapeutics Course sequence. The PAL course is one of the strengths of the new School of Pharmacy curriculum.

Conference Room

Students and faculty engage in small group discussions and make presentations in the adjacent Bracken Center conference room. This room also has a one-way mirror that allows the students to view and hear what occurs in the patient assessment room.

Contacts:

Rachel A. Allen, Bracken Center Director