Midway College of Pharmacy changes direction

[AwesomeTeeth]

lol not my place to post....

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[xXRAYNEXx]

midwayky.blogspot.com/p/midway-college.html?m=1

This article reveals some interesting info. Like when the first dean got hit by a truck, everything fell apart after the assistant dean took over.

The lesson here is don't let ur dean get hit by a truck. But seriously, i'd like to know how it happened and whether it's a scheme to jump off a burning bridge and let some else take the fall.

Sent from my PC36100

 

[KARM12]

And why all of us warn students not to go to these new schools...you just never know what is really going on. I don't feel sorry for these students. It even said in the article that almost 60% were "below average" on the PCAT.

 

[rxlea]

And why all of us warn students not to go to these new schools...you just never know what is really going on. I don't feel sorry for these students. It even said in the article that almost 60% were "below average" on the PCAT.

When I said that same thing, I was called heartless IRL

 

[southpharmindy]

"Almost 60% were below average on the PCAT" Its been a while since I took the PCAT but if I remember correctly the average is the 50th percentile. I'm sorry but if you score less than a 50 you do not deserve to go to pharmacy school. Furthermore, how will these students reflect on the profession? Its not heartless but we should all be concerned.

 

[KARM12]

When I said that same thing, I was called heartless IRL

Right, not everyone should be a pharmacist just because they want to. Some people just can't cut it. It isn't good for the profession when schools lower their admission standards to fill their classes.

 

[joetrisman]

"Almost 60% were below average on the PCAT" Its been a while since I took the PCAT but if I remember correctly the average is the 50th percentile. I'm sorry but if you score less than a 50 you do not deserve to go to pharmacy school. Furthermore, how will these students reflect on the profession? Its not heartless but we should all be concerned.

They won't now

 

[hye345]

Well, since we are on the topic of appropriate academic standards... what do you all feel should be the rough cutoff point for acceptance to a pharmacy program (in terms of GPA and PCAT)?

 

[rxlea]

Well, since we are on the topic of appropriate academic standards... what do you all feel should be the rough cutoff point for acceptance to a pharmacy program (in terms of GPA and PCAT)?

Go look at the top programs and see what their average pcat and gpa are for each class. Ours are on our website.

 

[30Percent]

They accepted students, but these students never paid tuition correct?

 

[confettiflyer]

Well, since we are on the topic of appropriate academic standards... what do you all feel should be the rough cutoff point for acceptance to a pharmacy program (in terms of GPA and PCAT)?

I think GPA cutoffs should be low to allow adcoms wiggle room. That, and I came from a competitive university where in some majors a 2.8-2.9 was the average GPA (specifically: UCLA MIMG).

Absolute lowest should be a 2.5, this should give plenty of room for 2nd career people who are "haunted" by a lackluster undergrad degree but managed to get a 4.0 in an MS/MPH program navigate. Absent an academic forgiveness policy, 2.7 would be a good absolute minimum GPA.

I'd even favor a "weighted" average that gives higher preference to a) recent and b) science courses. 4 units of A in a sociology course taken in a student's freshman year would count 50% whereas an upper division biology or chemistry course taken in the final year would count as 150%. Lower division major courses (biology, chem, calculus, etc...) could count for 100%.

It's difficult because a lot of elite colleges fall into grade inflation (ie Harvard) while other elite colleges use the standard bell curve with a C+ centered mean.

Ah one can dream.

 

[rxlea]

One way the UA keeps standards slightly higher is by requiring only B and above for both O chem and A&P. They look at the chem portion of the PCAT as well.

 

[Praziquantel86]

I'm glad to see that, at least according to the Board of Trustee minutes posted in that article, subpar students and subpar faculty are finally concerning to ACPE. Perhaps the tides are turning.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

That was an interesting read (the blog post + minutes). I know almost all of those people from when I worked for Midway College.

 

[xXRAYNEXx]

That was an interesting read (the blog post + minutes). I know almost all of those people from when I worked for Midway College.

Do you mind sharing your role there?

I think adcoms should look at applicants as a whole and not solely focus on PCAT score and GPA. Things to consider that can help the applicant with lower than average PCAT and GPA are work experience, community service, passion and knowledge for pharmacy, maturity, leadership roles, proven track record of academic and/or professional success in last 1-2 years, and other positive unique factors. But bottom line, GPA should be no less than 2.5 to 3.0. Grade inflation should be considered as well. For PCAT, some of the top pharm schools don't require it for a good reason (UCSF). Low PCAT score does not equal incompetence, so it should not lead to automatic rejection . I think most adcoms consider these factors anyway.

What I notice in the last ACPE meeting:

UT- EL Paso got ACPE accreditation pulled. Wonder why?

1 out of 4 schools failed pre-candidate status (Midway)
1 out of 3 schools failed request for on-site visit (AUHS)

I feel that if AUHS gets accredited, the world will...end.

I think ACPE has the indirect power to control the opening of new schools. By enforcing higher standards, they can make it more difficult for new schools to open. Yes this makes it more difficult for older schools to operate as well since it also applies to them but it should be easier for the older schools than new schools because they're more established, no? Should more pharmacists come together to pressure the ACPE to have higher standards? I'm not sure which is worse in the future...a shortage of pharmacists vs oversupply. But I'm sure it depends on you being the employer or employee. How will we maintain the right amount of supply? Let the market fix itself? Just wondering...

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Do you mind sharing your role there?

It's not really relevant. I was in an administrative/teaching role on the main campus (the all female "traditional" college), over a decade ago. Not involved in the pharmacy program at all, since it didn't even exist back then.

 

[rph3664]

This thread almost sounds like what happened to Drake in the 1970s and early 1980s. They were known as a diploma mill (in liberal arts too) and there were many, many students who never passed the NABPLEX within the 5-year time limit. The school was almost shut down, and then administration woke up and AFAIK it became a respectable school once again.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

This thread almost sounds like what happened to Drake in the 1970s and early 1980s. They were known as a diploma mill (in liberal arts too) and there were many, many students who never passed the NABPLEX within the 5-year time limit. The school was almost shut down, and then administration woke up and AFAIK it became a respectable school once again.

Midway isn't a diploma mill, though. They are a longstanding, well regarded institution. I'm not sure what happened with the pharmacy school. It sounds like they fell victim to ineffective management and inaccurate information about the cost. The pharmacy campus in Paintsville is hours away from the main campus in Midway (the town), so it's possible that the communication/oversight was poor, and things got out of hand.

 

[awval999]

Midway isn't a diploma mill, though. They are a longstanding, well regarded institution. I'm not sure what happened with the pharmacy school. It sounds like they fell victim to ineffective management and inaccurate information about the cost. The pharmacy campus in Paintsville is hours away from the main campus in Midway (the town), so it's possible that the communication/oversight was poor, and things got out of hand.

Honestly I think a lot of the smaller/private schools see Pharmacy education as dollar signs and probably try to rush it. They ran into a crappy economy, had crappy leadership and a crappy campus (rural Kentucky) and things just didn't take off.

If the University of Louisville tried it I'm sure it would have worked.

You have to realize not only do have to get students to commit to Paintsville for four years you need an entire staff to come to work there and move their whole family there indefinitely (or get 20-somethings to want to start a life there). It's pretty hard to do that to be honest. Why do you think right now in the Pharmacy world all 1st, 2nd and 3rd tier cities are saturated and the jobs are in rural middle-of-nowhere? Because desirable areas go first.

 

[297point1]

Thought I would clear up a misconception here:
The students as a whole had not scored well on the Pharmacy College Admission Test, and that may have been a factor in Charleston’s decision. According to the finance committee minutes, “At least 57 percent of students that applied to the School of Pharmacy were below average on their PCAT.”

It clearly says 'applied', not accepted or enrolled.

There is no correlation between the range of PCAT scores that a school receives among the applicants and the quality of the program. Even the best programs get applicants who score in the single digits for the PCAT composite- a school cannot control who applies. Nothing should be inferred here.

Now, if the school had enrolled poor quality students, that is an entirely different thing.

 

[confettiflyer]

Thought I would clear up a misconception here:
The students as a whole had not scored well on the Pharmacy College Admission Test, and that may have been a factor in Charleston’s decision. According to the finance committee minutes, “At least 57 percent of students that applied to the School of Pharmacy were below average on their PCAT.”

It clearly says 'applied', not accepted or enrolled.

There is no correlation between the range of PCAT scores that a school receives among the applicants and the quality of the program. Even the best programs get applicants who score in the single digits for the PCAT composite- a school cannot control who applies. Nothing should be inferred here.

Now, if the school had enrolled poor quality students, that is an entirely different thing.

Good catch

 

[Texas12]

Duplicate

 

[Texas12]

Dallas does not have a pharmacy school. UT Austin just approved the building of a new medical school.

 

[SadPharma]

They accepted students, but these students never paid tuition correct?

I paid tuition. Midway refunded me for every cent.