Pharmacy Building Campaign Brochure

Medical University of South Carolina A founding institution of the South Carolina College of Pharmacy

it is time.

Since 1824, the Medical University of South Carolina has worked to save lives, conquer illness, and end human suffering. By making a gift to the MUSC Pharmacy Building Campaign, you can share in this legacy and have a lasting impact on our students and the thousands of patients and families they will serve.

It is time. Together, we can build the future of pharmacy.

A flagship facility at the Medical University of South Carolina for the South Carolina College of Pharmacy

Mike Heath has two messages for people who care about pharmacy in the state of South Carolina. It is time. It can be done.

“It” is the new pharmacy building on the campus of the Medical University of South Carolina. And if anybody should know how to handle a large, formidable project, it is retired Col. William Michael Heath.

After earning his BS in pharmacy from MUSC in 1974, Col. Heath went on to become pharmacy consultant to the U.S. Army surgeon general and pharmacy program manager for the U.S. Army Medical Command. He was the highest ranking pharmacist in the U.S. Army and was responsible for managing the $700 million army pharmacy operation worldwide. He also served as chairman of the Department of Defense Pharmacy Board of Directors, which included the top pharmacists in every branch of the military.

Mobilizing the troops for this latest campaign is a natural for the South Carolina native, now living in Martinez, Ga., as the founder, senior partner, and CFO of Heath Healthcare Consulting, Inc.

mike heath

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Any success I’ve had as a pharmacist started at MUSC. It is important to pay it forward.

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Class of 1974 Mike is chair of the MUSC Pharmacy Building Leadership Committee (BLC), the twenty-three person

“When I was on active duty, the Army’s slogan was ‘Be All You Can Be,’” he said. “It meant giving your best so that those who come after you can be all they can be. Any success I’ve had as a pharmacist

force charged with raising private support to make

started at MUSC. It is important to pay it forward. We need to make sure there is a good facility and

the new MUSC pharmacy facility a reality. MUSC

environment that nurtures excellence in the profession of pharmacy in the state of South Carolina.”

President Raymond Greenberg has told the group the project has the full support of the administration and the board of trustees; construction is anticipated to begin once financial support is secured.

“The army slogan now is ‘Army Strong’” he said. “That means it all starts with one soldier.

That soldier comes together with others to make up the squad, the platoon, the company, the brigade, until you have the whole army. It all starts with each individual being strong. And that’s how we’re going to get this building built.

“We have a nucleus of pharmacy alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends who believe in this cause. Everyone is on board. The stars are aligned. And that’s why it will be successful. We’re going to be building the future of pharmacy … together.”

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People who know Tres Schiltz aren’t surprised he is passionate about the new College of Pharmacy building at MUSC, given the way he feels about his chosen profession.

“My biggest thing has been helping people,” said the Spartanburg native, a member of the Class of 2011. “It has always been about making an impact. With pharmacy, I saw an opportunity to affect patients on all levels. You can be a part of a team that brings the best therapies to patient care, from the hospital stay through discharge through quality of life at home. Knowing that I could make a difference beyond the scope of my own practice was very appealing.”

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Pharmacy colleges all across the country are building new facilities, especially in the Southeast.

We need to show the same commitment to remain competitive on the national level.

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tres schiltz Class of 2011 Tres has a passion for helping people and making an impact. That passion drew him to the profession, to MUSC, and to a future in which he will impact patients and families as a clinical specialist. He knows that as the inaugural student

It is what raising money for the new building is all about. No one could have been better suited to serve as the inaugural student representative on the Building Leadership Committee.

“For me, it was exciting because I was provided a unique opportunity as a student member of the committee to work with alumni who still call the College of Pharmacy home,” said Tres. “Seeing how strong the South Carolina College of Pharmacy has become over the last four years, this campus and this school will always be home for me.”

The college was successful in recruiting Tres, despite its outdated facilities, because of everything else the college had to offer: outstanding faculty, a major teaching hospital, a dual degree program

representative on the building leadership committee

in clinical research, and a Charleston location. But Tres believes the new building is critical to the

he will impact thousands more by helping provide

college’s position on the national pharmacy map, including having the power to draw the nation’s

the facilities necessary for MUSC Pharmacy to be

best pharmacy students.

one of the top pharmacy colleges in the country.

“We have a world class teaching hospital and an outstanding faculty,” he said. “The people who are teaching us in class are the ones who wrote the chapters in the textbooks. The thing missing is top of the line facilities. Pharmacy colleges all across the country are building new facilities, especially in the Southeast. We need to show the same commitment to remain competitive on the national level.”

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The pharmacy building at MUSC hasn’t changed since 1940. But pharmacy sure has.

Gone are the days when pharmacists didn’t question the decisions of a physician and just filled the bottles. Now they are partners on the healthcare team, offering counsel on medication as highly qualified specialists. While dispensing remains a central part of many pharmacists’ responsibilities, many are devoting more time to new applications of the profession.

“The college prepared me for the different paths my career has taken,” said Johnny Bethea, ’92. “If it wasn’t for MUSC, nothing I’ve done would have happened.”

Which would erase a wide swath. Bethea has worked in pharmaceuticals, medical research information, community pharmacy, and now designs protocols to get patients on the best and most cost-effective medications.

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We want to attract the best students and give them an edge when competing for residencies or positions. To do that, you have to have newer technology and state-of-the-art facilities.

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“Most of my career has been half in industry, half in retail, and sometimes the two overlap,” said the Durham, N.C., resident. “One of the great things about being a pharmacist is you get the opportunity to change careers without having to go back to college.”

johnny bethea Class of 1992

Development, Inc. (PPD), a contract research organization that provides expertise to large pharmaceutical companies on topics like clinical trials development and management. He is currently director of pharmacy for Care Management Technologies, Inc. Bethea’s career experience illustrates the challenge of adequately preparing a pharmacist for today’s

Johnny has worked in pharmaceuticals, medical research information,

multi-faceted profession. It takes recruiting the best faculty and students and providing them with the

community pharmacy, and now, as the director of pharmacy for Care

modern facilities and equipment they need to produce the next generation of pharmacy leaders.

Management Technologies, Inc., designs protocols to get patients on the best and most cost-effective medications. He knows it takes modern facilities and equipment to prepare adaptable leaders for today’s multi-faceted profession.

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Bethea joined Eli Lily after graduation and then was recruited to Pharmaceutical Product

“We want to attract the best students and give them an edge when competing for residencies or positions,” Bethea said. “To do that, you have to have newer technology and state of the art facilities.”

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As is the case for so many of us, Christy Cooper Whitlock, ’90 owes her career in pharmacy to a wooden wheelchair race. OK, so maybe that’s just her.

“My memory of the nursing home is racing down the hallway in a wheelchair, watching TV in the lounge,” she said. “I grew up in it, so it was like day care. A home away from home.”

Her home away from home was created by her father, Charles Cooper, ’65, who founded Winyah Dispensary. It began as one room in a nursing home and went on to become a network serving 36 counties in South Carolina.

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We live in an age where you need all kinds of equipment and facilities to stay competitive.

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With that background, she never seriously considered another profession when it came time to go to school. Nor did she consider any other pharmacy schools.

christy cooper whitlock Class of 1990 For Christy, MUSC pharmacy runs in the family. Her father, Charles Cooper, graduated from the college in 1965. Charles was known for his innovation and once said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Christy is creating the future of pharmacy in South Carolina by helping MUSC build a facility that will attract the best and the brightest students.

“We had so much pride with my father having been there and having met my mom there,” said Whitlock, who met her own husband, David, at MUSC. “And he was still in pharmacy school when my sister was born. I just loved the whole history of him being there. He had such reverence and respect for the place. I’m proud of the fact that I graduated from there.”

That pride will only grow if the MUSC campus of the South Carolina College of Pharmacy gets the state’s crown jewel in pharmacy facilities. And the mother of three can attest first hand to the importance of currency in any competitive market.

“The truth is, we live in an age where you need all kinds of equipment and facilities to stay competitive,” she said. “My 9-year-old daughter wants a laptop and a cell phone. My 18-year-old son can’t believe it, because he didn’t get one until he was 12 or 13. Things change. I tell him the first computer I ever had was a Prodigy and when I hooked it up and pulled down a recipe for cinnamon biscuits, I thought I’d flown to the moon.

“Students need to have access to—and be trained on—the most up to date facilities and equipment the market can offer if we want to stay competitive.”

Charles Cooper, Class of 1965

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He got them in, sent them out, saw them go, and brought them back.

Just about every student to come through the MUSC College of Pharmacy in the past 20 years got to know Peter Edwards, the quick-witted quipster with the booming baritone. He interviewed them as prospectives. He admitted them as first-year professional students. He sent them out on their introductory rotations, then on all the advanced ones that final, fourth year. He helped prepare them for their jurisprudence boards so they could be fully licensed pharmacists.

Then they graduated, turned around, and there he was again. President of the South Carolina Pharmacy Association (SCPhA). President of the MUSC Pharmacy Alumni Association. Chairman of the SCPhA board of directors. Chairman of the House of Delegates. Winner of any number of professional awards as one of the most prominent and visible pharmacists in the state of South Carolina.

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We’re a close-knit community in MUSC pharmacy. It’s like a family.

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They became established pharmacists and one day picked up the phone to find Peter Edwards asking them to give back to their profession by acting as a preceptor, just as he had found preceptors for them when they were students.

For many, his face comes to mind when they think of MUSC pharmacy. But what comes to his mind is a steady procession of students growing into colleagues.

peter edwards Class of 1968 Peter knows first-hand what it is like to be a pharmacy educator. He has felt the pride and satisfaction of seeing students grow from promising young prospects into talented men and women leading the profession. He

“One of the most gratifying experiences I’ve had as a pharmacy educator was seeing these bright young people come into the program, go through it, and enter the pharmacy profession as real leaders,” said Edwards, ’68, who retired as MUSC campus director of external affairs in 2009.

“They are what MUSC pharmacy really is, what it represents to the state and the region.”

And that’s why Edwards is passionate about supporting a new building at MUSC. “We’re a close-knit community in MUSC pharmacy,” he said. “It’s like a family. You never really leave it. It’s a second home.

“And it’s time for us to move to a new house.”

also knows that the top-quality students, faculty, and staff at MUSC need a top-quality facility to continue to produce top quality alumni.

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When it came to choosing a pharmacy school, Terry Blackmon was focused. He decided he wanted to come to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and so that was where he applied. Only there.

“It was the only thing I really wanted,” the Class of 1980 alumnus said. “I guess my thought process was not very mature at the time. If I had gotten turned down, I would have been doing something else for a year before reapplying.”

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A new pharmacy building is way past due.

It will be a very positive thing for students, for pharmacy, and for patients of the future.

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So when daughter Erin decided she wanted to go to pharmacy school and was ready to transfer

terry & erin blackmon Class of 1980 and Class of 2010 Terry’s education at MUSC led to a career as an independent pharmacist at the Medicine Cabinet in Lake City, S.C.; Terry’s career inspired daughter Erin to follow in his footsteps. Grateful for an opportunity to serve his patients and provide a livelihood for his family, Terry wants to give something back to the profession and to his school.

from Francis Marion, did dad share some words of wisdom about keeping her options open?

“I didn’t want to go anywhere else,” said Erin Blackmon, who graduated in 2010 as a member of the first South Carolina College of Pharmacy (SCCP), MUSC campus class. “If I didn’t get in, I would have waited a year and tried again.”

Evidently not.

The sense of community and history the Blackmons associated with MUSC (wife and mother Cindy went to nursing school there) was so strong there really wasn’t any other option.

“The family thing is important,” Terry said. “I think it was important to Erin to come to the same place as I went.”

That the building is literally the same place, however, is a little bittersweet.

“A new pharmacy building is way past due,” Terry said. “It will be a very positive thing for students, for pharmacy, and for patients of the future.”

After graduating, Terry went on to become a pharmacist at the Medicine Cabinet in Lake City, S.C., and became active in the South Carolina Pharmacy Association, the Carolina Pharmacy Network Board of Directors, and the Pee Dee Pharmacy Association.

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The students and faculty who spend long days in the College of Pharmacy building at MUSC don’t need convincing. The need for a new building is in front of them every day.

But the need is also evident to community and philanthropic leaders in the state of South Carolina. They see the state’s need for pharmacists—particularly community pharmacists—as something to be filled by institutions like MUSC. The Pharmacy Network Foundation recognized early on that a new pharmacy building at MUSC would have broad impact on the community and the state.

“Nobody on the pharmacy network board went to school at MUSC,” said Jimmy Jackson, a longtime board member. “It is just that the need is there. Students have to have a place they can go to class. We hope what we are doing will stimulate the alumni to step up and give as well.”

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MUSC is one of the oldest schools with one of the richest traditions.

Alumni can get this done if they want to.

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The Pharmacy Network Foundation was the first major donor to the new building campaign.

In 2007, the Raleigh-based foundation pledged $1.5 million. Jackson, a long-time friend of Peter Edwards, ’68, informed fellow directors Andy Barrett, Milton Whaley, Julian Upchurch, and Don Hill, along with foundation president Mickey Watts, of MUSC pharmacy’s facility situation.

jimmy jackson Pharmacy Network Foundation

“Most of the foundation members were community pharmacists and I acquainted them with what the students had to go through,” Jackson said. “It appeared like a logistical nightmare just to go to class. We’re committed to pharmacy schools and no one else is really doing bricks and mortar.”

The foundation is investing its resources in the new building not only because its members believe it is an important asset for South Carolina. They also believe that MUSC pharmacy

The Pharmacy Network Foundation was the first major donor to the new building campaign. In 2007, the Raleigh-based foundation pledged an additional $1.5 million increasing their total support to $2 million. The Foundation recognized a need and hopes that their leadership gift will stimulate the alumni to step up and give as well.

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alumni can make the project a reality.

“MUSC is one of the oldest schools with one of the richest traditions,” Jackson said. “One of the things we’ve stressed is that the alumni can get this done if they want to. If everybody gave $100, you could build a beautiful school. We’re excited that they are getting their act together and getting it done.”

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Already, our alumni and friends have shown overwhelming interest in and support for our efforts to build a new facility for the South Carolina College of Pharmacy. We are confident that, with the financial contributions of these individuals and friends like you, we will reach our funding objectives and soon make this new building a reality.

A design team has worked to organize the academic, administrative, and research space into a cohesive layout that supports the college’s educational and investigative missions resulting in an overall learning environment that is second to none. When the new building is complete, the College of Pharmacy will include the following amenities, and more: • Nearly 13,000 square feet of space dedicated to student instruction • Lecture halls designed to accommodate a full cohort of 95 students each, fully equipped with ceiling projectors, teaching consoles, and microphones and cameras for distance-learning purposes.

• Reconfigurable classrooms, equipped with loose tables and chairs, wireless access, and distance learning capabilities.

• Seminar rooms, designed to facilitate instruction for smaller groups (12–18 students).

• A hospital lab designed to train students in the clinical aspects of pharmacy practice. This lab, fully equipped with ceiling projectors and AV capability, will include five to six modules.

• A community/compounding lab, featuring a mock community pharmacy to train students in all aspects of community pharmacy practice.

Together, these amenities will create a learning and research environment on par with the best pharmacy schools in the nation, complementing the programmatic and faculty-driven excellence that has long been the hallmark of the MUSC pharmacy educational experience.

it can be done.

The Medical University of South Carolina is committed to sustainability in all facets of operation, including the production of publications such as this one, which is printed on paper certified

by SmartWood to the FSC standards.

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Medical University of South Carolina South Carolina College of Pharmacy 274 Calhoun Street, MSC 141 Charleston, SC 29425 Telephone: 843-792-4980 Toll-free: 800-810-MUSC Fax: 843-792-9081 www.sccp.sc.edu/muscbuilding