Adapting to health care reform

By Mina Radman

As health care reform begins to take effect, UF is ensuring future physicians, pharmacists and other health care professionals will understand and adapt to the changes.

The Master of Science in Pharmacy with a concentration in pharmaceutical outcomes and policy, an online degree offered to professionals through UF’s distance learning program, has begun changing its curriculum to fit the evolving world of health care.

The 30-credit degree has five specialty tracks: pharmacy regulation and policy, applied pharmaeconomics, drug regulatory affairs, clinical research regulation in pharmacy, and patient safety and medication risk management. Each specialty track will begin addressing health care changes as they are applied, said Robert Navarro, Pharm.D., a clinical professor in the College of Pharmacy department of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy.

Instructors are updating their class syllabi and curricula to reflect changes in health care delivery that affect their particular course subjects.

In addition to the changes in classes, students will attend seminars that address changes in the health care system. Topics for the fall semester include patient-focused initiatives to enhance patient education, involvement in health care decisions and improvement of quality of care.

For more information on the program, visit online.cop.ufl.edu/mspharmacyregulation.