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PORTLAND, Maine

University of New England brings together community experts to advance veterinary pharmacy knowledge in Maine

On August 12, 60 students from the University of New England College of Pharmacy (COP) will be joined by former students, area pharmacists and local veterinarians for a Veterinary Pharmacy Compounding Laboratory Day, where they will learn how to formulate custom medications for pets. This event is part of a UNE elective course that aims to educate its students in veterinary pharmacy—a specialty that only ¼ of U.S. pharmacy schools offer.

Students will work in UNE’s Hannaford Pharmacy Practice Lab from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., working with specialized equipment and materials to gain experience creating custom formulated medications for small animals. Specialty pharmacists from Apothecary By Design and PetScripts will join students and community veterinarians to discuss the interconnectivity of their professions and how they can best serve animal patients.

“An increasing number of pet owners are seeking prescriptions for their pets from large retail pharmacies. This course provides students with the skills they need to communicate with veterinarians, review medications and counsel pet owners on the administration of veterinary medications,” says Cory Theberge, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, coordinator of the veterinary pharmacy elective course. “Teaching students how to custom formulate drugs is also important because approximately 80% of the time the veterinarian is prescribing a human drug that has been reformulated or flavored for veterinary use.”

Although the majority of PharmD graduates obtain jobs in retail settings where they will likely encounter veterinary prescriptions for cats and dogs, the veterinary pharmacy skill set is not assessed in pharmacy licensure exams. This compounding lab and elective course, led by Theberge, aims to provide UNE graduates with an advantageous skill set that not only distinguishes them from other job candidates, but also serves the interests of millions of pets and their owners across the country.

“This elective provided me with insight into the small, but important, area of veterinary pharmacy,” said Shannon Grady, UNE College of Pharmacy Class of 2016. “It gave me the knowledge to effectively provide recommendations on medications for animals, the confidence to interact with veterinarians and the resources to look up veterinary pharmacy information.”

For more information about UNE’s Veterinary Pharmacy Compounding Laboratory Day, please contact Cory Theberge at ctheberge@une.edu, or call (207) 221-4057.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.