API pledges $300,000 to education excellence

November 2011

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) announced that it will provide $300,000 donation in support of Excellence in Pharmacy Education - an initiative of the Victorian College of Pharmacy Foundation. The ten year commitment from API will support the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences' innovative approach to teaching and learning.

API's significant and generous contribution will be invested in the faculty's Professional Practice Suites (PPS) - learning environments designed to facilitate the teaching of contemporary dispensing, primary care and patient communication skills in a 'hands-on' manner.

API CEO and Managing Director, Stephen Roche, said "In a changing health and retail environment, we believe that investing in the skills of young and upcoming pharmacists is an important contribution to the future of the industry.

"To be a leading pharmacy in the future will require pharmacies to have the customer offer with the best pharmacists and I hope this contribution to Monash will fulfil part of API's overall vision to deliver positive health outcomes for patients," said Mr Roche. 

Establishing strong connections with industry leading organisations, such as API, is vital to the overall educational experience offered by Monash and provides development opportunities for students explained Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor Bill Charman.

"We need to educate students for today's best practice as well as prepare them to meet the challenges of the future - to be leaders of change as well as safe, efficient and flexible in work practices. Importantly they must be key contributors to the health team."

The faculty believes that the future of the profession is centred on the provision of personalised, patient focussed healthcare, integrated with expert medicine advice, thereby ensuring that pharmacists are an integral part of the healthcare team.

"API's support for the PPS will enhance Monash's ability to produce pharmacy graduates who can better contribute to the future of community pharmacy and we are very thankful for their support," said Professor Charman.

Replacing a traditional 'dispensing' laboratory, the PPS can adapt to changing teaching styles and emphasis. It incorporates: two teaching areas, each fitted with a computer-equipped tutorial space for thirty students; two consulting suites, each containing four consulting rooms with video-recording capability; and a social learning space for small informal group work.

API join the Quality Pharmacy Consortium as supporters of the Victorian College of Pharmacy Foundation's Excellence in Pharmacy Education project.