UT Partnership – Reeves-Sain Drug Store

A Healthy Partnership with the University of Tennessee

Distance Education & Drug Information Services

Reeves-Sain Drug Store is participating in a Distance Education and Drug Information Service Project telecommunications grant that has been awarded to The University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy for $493,595 from the Rural Utilities Service of the USDA. The principal investigators are Dr. Dick Gourley, Dean of the UT College of Pharmacy – Memphis and Dr. Barbara (Bobbi) Clarke, Professor and Extension Health Specialist of the UT Extension Service – Knoxville, TN.

This is a collaborative project with The University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy, Drug Information Center, and Extension Service.

Why it’s needed

Drug Information Centers across the country are underutilized due to lack of accessibility. This grant will aid in solving this problem by developing a telecommunications infrastructure to increase the use of the Drug Information Center by pharmacists, county Extension educators and other health care professional in Tennessee.

Obtaining reliable and timely information on medication issues is a challenge for county Extension educators. This grant links them with the resources of the Drug Information Center.

There exists a critical shortage of pharmacists in the U.S. The shortfall is particularly noticeable in rural communities, like many in Tennessee. This grant will increase the capability of the College of Pharmacy to train more pharmacists by expanding to off-campus sites for education programming though distance learning.

This project will motivate students to return to serve in their rural community and improve and quality of pharmaceutical services provided to those communities.

How this is accomplished

The grant is linking 11 sites scattered throughout the state with the UT Drug Information Center. These Sites will provide drug information directly to their respective communities and to the county Extension educators in all 95 counties for use with their health programming.

The grant will provide Internet and video links with community Pharmacy residency sites and county Extension offices throughout Tennessee to the Drug Information Center in Memphis.

The UT Drug Information Center, the UT Extension Service, and the community pharmacy residents will collaborate to develop educational programs and resources design to enhance the education literacy of rural Tennesseans.

Program effectiveness and outcomes will be evaluated in regards to the education of pharmacists and county Extension educators, use of the Drug Information Center and the impact of Extension educational activities on the medication literacy of their clientele.