FAMU Probation Lifted!!!!!!!!!!!

[FAMUPharmD09]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) at its board meeting in Tampa, January 9-13, 2008, voted to lift its probationary status of the Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (COPPS). In addition, the board voted to re-affirm the College’s accreditation status through June 30, 2010.

“I am elated by the actions of the ACPE Board in both lifting of our probation and extending accreditation through 2010,” said Henry Lewis III, dean of the College of Pharmacy. “This action comes as a result of the tremendous hard work of the faculty, staff and student body within the College over the past five months to address the 21 accreditation findings from its previous ACPE site visit.”

The actions of the ACPE Board of Directors came after a site visit team from ACPE visited the College on November 13-14, 2007. The team rendered a report to the Board of Directors that indicated that the College was in compliance with all 30 ACPE standards for accreditation. Attending the ACPE meeting in Tampa on Friday, January 11, where the accreditation status was reviewed were President James H. Ammons, Dean Henry Lewis III and Dr. John J. Scrivens, Director, Tampa Pharmacy Practice.

“This is a remarkable accomplishment that was achieved through the leadership of Dr. Lewis, the expertise of faculty and staff, and the hard work of students,” said Ammons. “One of my main priorities during my first 150 days as president was to make sure that the college had what it needed for probation to be lifted. As a result of this action, our administrators, faculty and staff in the College of Pharmacy can focus more of their attention on continuing its legacy of producing outstanding graduates this field.”

The Board of Directors indicated its appreciation for the commitment of President James H. Ammons to addressing the concerns of the Council raised in its previous report to the College. In particular, the Board of Director cited the president’s return of the eighteen (18) faculty and staff positions previously removed from the College. In addition, the administration’s support for the funding of clinical training sites and the completion of the Phase II of the College’s building were cited further as the administration’s commitment.

The Council praised the faculty in the COPPS for its prompt and expeditious development of the processes to address previous accreditation concerns. The development of the College’s Strategic Plan, the development of the new curriculum, the Assessment Program, and the Implementation of the Introductory and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Programs, were all considered favored actions based on the Council’s previous request.

Michael Thompson, assistant dean for Clinical Affairs and chair of the Accreditation Steering Committee said, “I am extreme happy to hear the decision by ACPE. We have an excellent program in the College, thanks to the faculty, staff and the support of the university administration. I am ecstatic that this was recognized by our distinguished colleagues at ACPE.”

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[rxgrl08]

Good for them. They owe it to their current and future students to be on the same level as other institutions and give them an education up to the Board's standards. But I'm still not applying and will be goin to Mercer!!!!!!!!!

 

[BMBiology]

why was it put on probation in the first place?

 

[FAMUPharmD09]

Good for them. They owe it to their current and future students to be on the same level as other institutions and give them an education up to the Board's standards. But I'm still not applying and will be goin to Mercer!!!!!!!!!

Not the same standard of education?!?!?!?!?

FAMU College of Pharmacy Graduates Achieve 100 Percent on Licensure Examination

Florida A & M University 2007 pharmacy graduates achieved a 100 percent passage rate on the North American Pharmacy Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) exceeding the state and national rate. This group of first-time candidates took the test between May 1, 2007 and August 31, 2007, as reported by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Seventy-three (73) candidates of the Class of 2007 took the NAPLEX during this time and all passed. In addition, FAMU's school average score of 119.15 exceeded the state and national averages of 118.77 and 116.00 respectively. The state passing rate was 98.22 percent and the national rate was 97.23 compared to FAMU's 100 percent.

"We are very proud of the students in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences," said FAMU President James H. Ammons. "I applaud Dean Lewis and the faculty for doing an outstanding job in preparing our students. This is another example of how we have distinguished ourselves."

The NAPLEX is developed by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) and is utilized by the boards of pharmacy as part of their assessment of competence to practice pharmacy. The NABP is the independent, international, and impartial association that assists its member boards and jurisdictions in developing, implementing, and enforcing uniform standards for the purpose of protecting the public health.

"Actions speak louder than words," said Barbara Barnes, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. "Students in the College of Pharmacy have proved through their actions that FAMU students are the best and brightest in this region, state and nation."

"We are extremely proud with the performance of our PharmD graduates on the NAPLEX," said Lewis, dean of College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. "The efforts of our faculty and staff in preparing our students not only for this first measure of competence but for life long learning is embodied in their performance."

 

[BMBiology]

Seventy-three (73) candidates of the Class of 2007 took the NAPLEX during this time and all passed. In addition, FAMU's school average score of 119.15 exceeded the state and national averages of 118.77 and 116.00 respectively. The state passing rate was 98.22 percent and the national rate was 97.23 compared to FAMU's 100 percent..

Only 73 students took the NAPLEX? That seems rather small. What is the student body for 2007? How many students were originally enrolled in the program? When was the school established?

 

[FAMUPharmD09]

The class was roughly 100-110 students. Remember that the NAPLEX was suspended in August. This was of the students who took the test from May until August. NAPB has not released info since NAPLEX was reinstituted. The College of Pharmacy was established in 1951. One Hundred percent passage speaks for itself. I am not saying that FAMU is by any means perfect, however contrary to some previous posts FAMU does provide a quality education.

 

[azPharmD2B]

Ok, so what's the passing rate for the last year? 2 years? Sorry but giving stats for such a narrow time frame really doesn't paint an accurate picture.

 

[BMBiology]

The class was roughly 100-110 students. Remember that the NAPLEX was suspended in August. This was of the students who took the test from May until August. NAPB has not released info since NAPLEX was reinstituted. The College of Pharmacy was established in 1951. One Hundred percent passage speaks for itself. I am not saying that FAMU is by any means perfect, however contrary to some previous posts FAMU does provide a quality education.

Based on your number, that's still a good percentage of students (33%) who were not included in the results. I would argue that students who wait to take the NAPLEX tend not to be as strong candidate as students who take it earlier.

What is the original class size? Why was it put on probation in the first place? Just curious.

 

[FAMUPharmD09]

That is true that some students had not taken the test by the time the NAPLEX was suspended. I would argue that most if not all Pharmacy schools across the board still had students that had to take the NAPLEX when it was suspended not just FAMU. To be honest I cannot tell you how many students were accepted in the first professional year because I was still an undergrad, however the number is usually around 140-150. We can argue all day about how many people haven't taken the test or whatever, my only point at posting this was because a previous post mentioned that perhaps my education at FAMU was some how not up to the standards of "other" schools which I totally and vigorously disagree with.

 

[rxgrl08]

I made the comment of not being up to standards because it is true. If a school is on probation, that means that some standars set the the Board are not up to par and meet the minimum requirements. I would be very worried if I am receiving an education from an institution that unfortunately falls behind in meeting the Board's standards. I also said "good for them" too that they are back on track. You should be proud. However many choose not to take risks with schools in probation status and look for schools that go above and beyond the requirements/ standards set by the Board.

 

[aboveliquidice]

The school was placed on probation for major shortcomings in 17 of 30 points for accredidation

While I have not investigated the matter personally - one major issue with comparing graduates, particularly in florida, is FAMU's willingness to publish statistical data. This data includes the GPA of accepted students and the like, and I beleive this to be the root of skeptisim towards the school.

That being said - if a school can boast 100% passing rate - than by all means am I impressed. I would reserve my final judgement until the entire class has taken the exam, and the final score is turned in. It would be truly remarkable if the entire class passed without a single failure - that would be awesome.

Statistical data can be found:

http://www.nabp.net/

If you click on "examination programs" on the left side of screen, then "NAPLEX" - then click on "School Pass Rates Statistical Analysis " in the lower right hand side - you will see stats up through 2006. In that spread sheet - it says FAMU's average from 2002 through 2006 was 90.73% of 550 graduates passed the NAPLEX. Not exactly stellar - lets hope the new FAMU is here to stay.

~above~

 

[FAMUPharmD09]

Being a student in the College of Pharmacy when the probation was placed on the school and actively participating in meetings with the ACPE site team when they visited, I can say firsthand that the concern from ACPE had nothing to do with the quality of our pharmaceutical education. The concern from ACPE was more tied to finances and a committment from the university to properly fund the school of pharmacy. At the time when ACPE initially visited the university had an interim president for 2 1/2 years and she cut funding to the college tremendously. In addition the college had an interim dean. Since our new president arrived in July on day one of his presidency he restored our budget and made the commitment to the college of pharmacy as well as appointing Dr. Lewis as our new dean (Was the dean from 94-04 and was forced out by the interim president). Dean Lewis and the faculty, staff and students have worked EXTREMELY hard to complete the process that normally takes 15 months in 5 months. The quality of FAMU students never came in to question from the ACPE. With this saga behind us, FAMU will continue to be the #1 producer of African- American Pharmacists in the nation (Let me say this before anyone starts something FAMU College of Pharmacy is a school with African Americans,Caucasians, Indians, Vietnamese, Cambodian students and anybody else please stop saying we only accept African American students).

 

[DaveRX]

Good for them. They owe it to their current and future students to be on the same level as other institutions and give them an education up to the Board's standards. But I'm still not applying and will be goin to Mercer!!!!!!!!!

Good for you. You wouldn't of gotten in anyway. You will enjoy Mercer, it's a very good school.