•
PORTLAND, Maine

'Mainebiz' reports on UNE College of Pharmacy residency partnership with CVS Health

pharmacy students

The University of New England College of Pharmacy has joined CVS Health to offer a residency training program in specialty pharmacy. The fastest-growing segment of the pharmacy industry, specialty pharmacy focuses on high-cost, high-touch medication therapy for patients with complex disease states.

With this partnership, UNE is part of a select group of U.S. universities offering this specific program. According to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, there are currently more than 1,700 pharmacy residency programs in the country, but it’s estimated that fewer than a dozen concentrate in specialty pharmacy.

The residency will allow pharmacists to learn from real-world experience with “specialty” medications, which typically involve unique handling and administration requirements. It will provide hands-on management and clinical training around conditions such as organ transplant, hepatitis C, HIV and rheumatoid arthritis.

This program, which has an agreement through June of 2020, continues a partnership established by UNE and Apothecary by Design (ABD). Recently acquired by CVS Health, ABD will remain a provider of specialty pharmacy services to patients with chronic, complex diseases at its Portland, Maine location. The UNE-CVS Health resident will be based at ABD and will be an employee of CVS Health.

Kenneth McCall, Pharm.D., BCGP, FAPhA associate professor for the Department of Pharmacy Practice, serves as director of the program. “With recent advances in science, specialty care is at the forefront of pharmacy, and CVS Health is at the forefront of specialty,” he stated. “The University of New England College of Pharmacy is thrilled to enter into this specialty pharmacy partnership with CVS Health, offering a unique opportunity which complements the other rich resources we bring to the profession of pharmacy.”

“We’re pleased to work with UNE on this residency program and to introduce pharmacy graduates to the specialty pharmacy field,” added Amy Oliveira, Sr. Director, Pharmacist Talent Acquisition, CVS Health. “Through this unique specialty pharmacy experience, graduates will be exposed to a growing part of the pharmacy business and be armed with the skills and expertise they need to care for patients with complex and chronic conditions.”

Read the article in Mainebiz.

To learn more about the University of New England’s College of Pharmacy, visit www.une.edu/pharmacy

To apply, visit www.une.edu/admissions

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.