Drs. Annie Lam, ’95, PharmD,’97 and Peggy Odegard,’85, PharmD, ’90, co-directors of the Plein Certificate in Geriatric Pharmacy, have been named Shirley and Herb Bridge Endowed Professors in Pharmacy. They are the first to receive this honor. It is a coveted award as only two such professorships currently exist at the School, the Milo Gibaldi endowment and the recently established Bridge endowment. The Bridges created this endowed professorship to promote programs focused on geriatrics and women in pharmacy. The professorship will support the initial funding to establish a Medication Therapy Management (MTM) training program in the school. This exciting new initiative will bring together in collaboration several faculty including Jackie Gardner, PhD, Don Downing,’75, Dana Hammer, PhD, Karan Dawson,’70, PhD, Nanci Murphy PharmD,’97, Jeff Rochon PharmD, ’99, Dale Christensen, PhD, and Ellen Rheinhart, PharmD. This UW group is also working with WSU faculty to launch a state wide MTM training for Pharmacy students at both campuses.
Dr. Lam will also be working on a MTM project with Li Li, the PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice resident at the UW/International Community Health Services (ICHS) Residency Program. The pair has been awarded an Incentive Grant for Practitioner Innovations in Pharmaceutical Care sponsored by the American Pharmacist Association (APhA) Foundation. Together with the pharmacists and providers at ICHS, they will implement a MTM service at the clinic to optimize medication self-management among the multi-ethnic elderly patients.