In recognition of its mission as a metropolitan, Catholic, and
Vincentian university (that is, we follow the teachings of St.
Vincent de Paul), the St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and
Allied Health Professions created The Urban Pharmaceutical Care
Research and Education Institute.
The Urban Institute is an institute without walls. It is an
“umbrella” for programs that provide students, pharmacists,
physicians, nurses and other health care providers with the
opportunity to research and better understand how health care needs
are affected by the environmental, socioeconomic and cultural
characteristics of New York City’s diverse communities — especially
its low-income and immigrant populations.
For example, an Institute initiative sponsors volunteer service
by pharmacy faculty at Rotacare which is a free clinic for
uninsured patients in Uniondale, Long Island.
St. John’s pharmacists collaborate with medical staff in caring for
patients. In addition, Pharmacy students hold fund raising
activities to support the clinic.
Two significant Urban Institute programs offer post-graduate
training. The Town Total Health Urban Pharmaceutical Care
Fellowship completely immerse St. John’s pharmacy graduates into
meeting the comprehensive health care needs of poor urban residents
confronted with acute and chronic illnesses.
The Duane Read — St. John’s University Ambulatory Care Specialty
Residency in Pharmaceutical Care for the Urban Indigent allows a
new graduate to work at the health care facilities of Project
Renewal, an organization dedicated to serving New York City’s
homeless.
Community education is another important Urban Institute goal.
With support from AstraZeneca, faculty and students recently
reached more than 1,500 pharmacy professionals and consumers with
information about the drug benefit changes introduced by the
Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act and
their impact on low-income patients.
At the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions,
professionalism and service go hand in hand. “We want to be the
number-one pharmacy school in the country known for meeting the
needs of the urban poor,” says Dean Robert A. Mangione, R.Ph.,
Ed.D. “We always come back to easing the suffering of mankind. We
aren’t satisfied with just answering scientific questions, but also
want to see that knowledge applied to improving lives.”