Athens, Ga. – Six University of Georgia pharmacy students started their third-year courses on Aug. 13 in Albany, Ga., as the inaugural class of the College of Pharmacy’s southwest Georgia clinical campus. The students will finish their final two years of study in Albany as part of the college’s 2+2 program.
The 2+2 program allows pharmacy students to begin their pharmaceutical training with two years of study in Athens and then complete their final two years at an alternate site.
“Southwest Georgia, for a long time, has not had an adequate number of pharmacists,” said Dean Svein Øie about the need for the new program. “We aim to train them there in hopes they will stay in that area.”
The college officially opened the Albany campus in April 2011 with the classroom and student laboratory space needed to support the doctor of pharmacy program and the graduate certificate residency program. The space includes faculty offices, a classroom equipped for video conferencing, a student lounge and a computer area.
The campus was designed to promote interactions between alumni, students, residents and faculty members in south Georgia. The 1000 N. Jefferson St. location is within walking distance of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, the southwest Georgia clinical campus of Georgia Health Sciences University’s Medical College of Georgia and Phoebe Healthworks, a state-of-the art wellness center.
The campus is expected to eventually accommodate 50 students and five faculty members. The learning environment will provide opportunities for professional student development and interdisciplinary healthcare education and training.
