Graduate Education Webinar 1: The Future of the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Graduate Education

Date and Time: Wednesday October 24th at 1:00PM (EDT)

Presented by the AACP Graduate Education SIG

Objective:  To receive input on their whitepaper, "The Future of the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Graduate Education; Recommendations from the AACP Graduate Education Special Interest Group".

ABSTRACT
Despite the pharma's recent sea change in approach to drug discovery and development, U.S. pharmaceutical sciences graduate programs are currently maintaining traditional methods for masters and doctoral student education. The literature on graduate education in the biomedical sciences has long been advocating educating students to hone soft skills like communication and teamwork, in addition to maintaining excellent basic skills in research. However, recommendations to date have not taken into account the future trends in the pharmaceutical industry. The AACP Graduate Education Special Interest Group has done a literature survey of the trends in the pharmaceutical industry and graduate education in order to determine whether our graduate programs are strategically positioned to prepare our graduates for successful careers in the next few decades. We recommend that our pharmaceutical sciences graduate programs take a proactive and leadership role in meeting the needs of our future graduates and employers. Our graduate programs should bring to education the innovation and collaboration that our industry also requires to be successful and relevant in this century.

Presenter:
Susanna Wu-Pong, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Director, Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Program
School of Pharmacy
Virginia Commonwealth University

Moderator:
Stephen O’Barr, Ph.D
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
College of Pharmacy
Western University of Health Sciences