A group of Japanese pharmacy students and professors explored the workings of American clinical pharmacy during a recent two-week program sponsored by Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy.
The visitors from Meijo University in Nagoya, Japan, spent June 20-July 3 in classroom sessions at Samford and visits to clinical sites in the Birmingham area.
The Samford-Meijo pharmacy exchange program dates back to 1993. Almost every year since, Meijo faculty and master’s degree clinical pharmacy students have studied at Samford, and Samford faculty and 4th year doctor of pharmacy students have traveled to Japan for experiential course work.
This year’s schedule at Samford included clinical site visits and on-campus lectures on such topics as pharmacokinetics, drug literature and oncology care. Site visits were made to Jefferson County Department of Health, St. Vincent’s Family Practice and Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Alabama, Christ Health Center, Cooper Green Mercy Hospital and Southern Medical.
The 10 Meijo students and two professors also joined their Samford hosts at the annual meeting of the Alabama Pharmacy Association at Point Clear Resort along the Alabama coast.
At program’s end, Meijo University pharmacy professor Hiroyuki Kamei expressed gratitude for the Samford hospitality and efforts of the McWhorter faculty, including program coordinator Dr. Michael Hogue.
“Our students were able to visit very worthwhile sites and learned a lot of things,” said Dr. Kamei. “All of the things that we experienced will surely be helpful and effective in our activities in Japan.”
In March, two Samford pharmacy students and a faculty member will spend four weeks studying at Meijo.