For the past several years the United States has engaged in a very hearty debate about healthcare reform in this country. As our communities age, we must find ways to adequately and appropriately care for "baby boomers", the population cohort most responsible for building the wealth of this country. In the midst of rapid expansion of the Medicare-eligible population (10,000/day for next 14 years), our country is facing a potential shortage of primary care practitioners, traditionally consisting of physicians and nurse practitioners. And this occurs at a time when medications offer one of our best solutions to manage most chronic health conditions.

The USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy had the foresight to address these future healthcare needs. We are creating an innovative clinical program that will lead the transformation of the pharmacy profession to address many of the future health concerns that we as a nation will encounter. We established four foundational pillars for our program:

• Geriatric Pharmacotherapy
• Health Informatics
• Translational Pharmacogenomics
• Leadership/Management

We view our pharmacy program as being a clinical apprenticeship as much as it is a degree-producing program. We are training pharmacy health practitioners to graduate with a mindset to transform the healthcare arena, and not simply exist in it.

The national call for team-based, interprofessional delivery of healthcare affirms the clinical and curricular philosophy of the USF Taneja College of Pharmacy to engage in creating advanced pharmacist clinicians that will collaborate with other health professionals. The Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) provides the opportunity to re-create virtually any clinical scenario that health professionals will encounter in actual clinical practice. And our Pharmacy of the Future, USF Health Pharmacy Plus, offers patients and students personalized utilization of advanced health technologies. Our pharmacist graduates will be well trained to perform as skilled intermediaries to effectively communicate with patients, their health providers, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies. There are enormous resources within USF Health to accomplish this goal!

The University of South Florida has become a top destination for students and faculty. The USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy is Florida’s first public, comprehensive college of pharmacy in a metropolitan area. Our focus on the future of healthcare, with the interprofessional prowess of USF Health, is virtually unmatched in the southeast! We invite you to explore our quest for innovation, transformation, and creativity as we chart a path to the future of improved health for all.

As the healthcare needs of Floridians, the nation, and the world continue to grow, the escalating demands on the healthcare system will require increasing participation of pharmacists to assist healthcare teams and health-systems provisions. With special clinical emphasis placed upon caring for elderly populations, individualized medicine, emerging health information technologies, and building future healthcare leaders, the USF Taneja College of Pharmacy is excited to move the pharmacy profession towards the year 2020 and beyond. If I were an aspiring student, I would want to be a student in this program. The Future of Pharmacy begins Now at the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy!

Yours Truly,

Kevin B. Sneed
Senior Associate Vice President, USF Health
Dean, Tanjea College of Pharmacy