The USC School of Health Care Professions (SHCP) Department of Pharmacy warmly welcomed the Philippine Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Inc. (PACOP) on February 29 to March 2, 2024, at the School of Architecture, Fine Arts, and Design (SAFAD) Theater, USC Talamban Campus.
Academic pharmacists all over the Philippines attended the 4th PACOP Summit with the theme “Synergy, Transformation, and Sustainability in Pharmacy Education” in celebration of PACOP’s 49th anniversary.
The event was graced by the University President, Fr. Francisco Antonio T. Estepa, SVD, Ph.D. as USC co-hosted the event.
The Department of Pharmacy, under the leadership of Florencio V. Arce, Jr., Ph.D. collaborated with the PACOP Visayas Chapter led by PACOP President Dr. Maria Fay Nenette Cariaga and Gerard Lee L. See, Ph.D., USC SHCP Dean and PACOP Vice President for the Visayas, along with the PACOP Board of Trustees.
The summit emphasized transformations in education and practice, digital transformation, quality assurance of education, research and innovation, pharmacy practice specialization, and internationalization of higher education institutions.
The three-day event also highlighted the sustainability of pharmacy practice in the Philippines which should be driven by collaborative endeavors of pharmacists across diverse disciplines and be attuned to the latest innovations in pharmacy education, to generate a high-level pharmacy workforce.
The event ended with a facility tour wherein academic pharmacists from different universities visited the Robert Hoeppener building to observe the best practices of the USC Department of Pharmacy.
The activity also opened an opportunity for the different pharmacy schools to share insights and collaborate to create pharmacy programs that can generate future-ready pharmacy students.
by Mark Niño B. Melgo, R.Ph., M.S.