SHARKS RX Spring 2017 Magazine

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY College of Pharmacy 12 13 As part of the ACORN SEED project, College of Pharmacy alumna Yesenia Prados, Pharm.D. (’14), clinical phar- macist, is heading the Medication Therapy Management (MTM) component and has overseen the creation of the Adherence, Transitions of Care, and Medication Therapy Management (ATM) Center at NSU. Students are mak- ing the calls, reaching out to patients from several ACO groups, offering help and counseling patients on medica- tions, devices, and a variety of other health-related issues to help physicians meet their important drug-related quality measures. “The students are experiencing firsthand, real-life situations while being guided by faculty members to make sure they don’t miss anything,” Prados said. “That is going to help them so much once they are in the work field on their own. We are giving them the ability to excel once they graduate.” It also expands the students’ opportunities to make money in their careers, since MTM is the only service pharmacists can currently bill for under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “It is making a difference for students, physicians, and patients” Prados said. In one recent example, a student spoke to a patient who was confused about his insulin prescription and was not taking it properly. The student was able to reach out to the physician, clear up the confusion, and make sure the patient’s prescription, and his use of it, was corrected. According to Prados, the ATM Center, which is already making close to 100 calls a day and yielding up to 7 daily student-patient contacts, has exceeded the physicians’ and the NSU team’s expectations. “The fact is we are in shock at where we are in such a short time. We have a lot to offer and so much more to grow,” she said. Yesenia Prados (center) proudly shares MTM information with students and visitors. With competition growing for traditional pharmacist jobs, Jones said the goal is to start training and preparing NSU students for this new kind of pharmacy care. “Our pharmacy interns will be able to train directly under the physicians in a value-based model of the future,” she said. “It’s also a step toward preparing them for when national provider status gets approved and the Florida scope of pharmacy practice is expanded.” ACORN SEED is growing quickly. “The physicians are ecstatic with what we’re doing. Now we already need more pharmacists,” Jones said. This year, the college will be offering a two-year Accountable Care Fellowship, with an emphasis on quality improvement, and two second-year postgraduate ambulatory care residencies, which will work closely with ACORN SEED faculty members. To learn more about the program, visit NSU ACORN SEED at pharmacy.nova.edu/acornseed . (continued from previous page) Pharmacy Students Dive into Innovative Projects By Ellen Wolfson Valladares P harmacy student Mohaddisa Suchedina and her four copresenters had seen the show Shark Tank and knew that the people pitching their products often offered the judges samples. So when it came time to present their invention, Pharmbox—a pharmaceutical subscription service—they brought their prototype and handed out samples of items in the box to each judge in the College of Pharmacy’s own version of the show. It was a move that would have made Mr. Wonderful— Shark Tank cast member and investor Kevin O’Leary—proud. And it was a hit with the judges and audience members who were there that day for this year’s new format for the Pharmacy Practice Seminar. “It was very interactive, and the judges were impressed by that,” Suchedina said. She and her teammates were one of 45 teams of students from the Fort Lauderdale/Davie, Palm Beach, and Puerto Rico campuses who participated in the seminar, presenting their innovative ideas for prod- ucts, services, and computer apps that could potentially impact the pharma- ceutical industry. Suchedina and her team took home the prizes on the Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus for Best Pre- sentation in their room and Best Poster. Transforming the annual seminar into a Shark Tank -style event was the brainchild of Jaime Riskin, Pharm.D., clini- cal assistant professor, and Matthew Seamon, Pharm.D., J.D., associate professor and chair of pharmacy practice. In past years, faculty members assigned topics to student groups, who would research the topic, work with a faculty member who was knowledgeable in the area, and create a poster and presentation on the topic. “Last year, Dr. Seamon came to my office and had this idea that rather than us assigning the topics, we could put it on the students to come up with an idea, rather than the typical platform presentation,” Riskin said. She loved the idea and the fact that it aligned perfectly with the college’s vision for creating innovators, as well as the goals of Lisa M. Deziel, Pharm.D., Ph.D., COP dean, to give students more skills in innovation, entrepreneurship, and critical thinking. “Pharmacy is changing dramatically, and education is changing as well,” Seamon said. “We had a chance to mod- ernize one part of the curriculum that already existed and give students the chance to develop the skills and confidence they’ll need in the competitive marketplace.” As Seamon and Riskin began to develop the new syllabus, they realized their original plan of hav- ing the students come up with a business plan was a little far-reaching for a one-semester course. They also realized that the students needed assis- tance to begin coming up with ideas. So they focused on the creation and presentation of an original idea. “The hardest part about this was figuring out ‘How do I invent something?’ We had to come from a framework of teach- ing how to come up with an idea,” Riskin said. (continued on next page) MTM Center Makes a Difference

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