Promoting pharmaceutical management for underserved populations: Creating a pool of expertise at U.S. universities

Increased focus on improving access to essential medicines in developing countries and other underserved populations has created an unfilled demand for technical assistance in pharmaceutical management. To address this demand, the RPM Plus Program has helped create pharmaceutical management training programs in U.S. schools of pharmacy and public health. The initiative highlights health care issues confronting underserved populations; promotes pharmaceutical management as a career; and teaches skill sets needed for pharmaceutical management work.

The University of Iowa College of Pharmacy and JHU Bloomberg School of Public Health are implementing programs with common elements: • Pharmaceutical management courses (both schools created courses built around the pharmaceutical management cycle—selection, procurement, distribution, use) • Activities where experts speak about pharmaceutical issues affecting underserved populations (e.g., JHU organized lectures on pharmaceutical development and access) • Case studies incorporated into existing courses (e.g., Iowa added cases on underserved populations to its case study database, IowaTeach) • Web-based technology to enhance learning and expand the audience (e.g., JHU's open access site had 12,000 hits in 3 months)

Although course goals,content, and assignments are similar, context differs: JHU's graduate public health management course addresses developing country issues with students from various professions and countries; Iowa's cross-listed course enrolls PharmD, MPH, and global studies students, relating issues of the global underserved to those of domestic populations. Experiences after two years at JHU and one year at Iowa are positive: e.g., 84% of JHU students rated the course as ‘excellent,' and Year 2 enrollment has nearly doubled.