NACDS Announces Recipients of Community PREP Grants

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation has announced the first 3 beneficiaries of the Community Pharmacy Residency Expansion Project (Community PREP), a $1.5 million grant program designed to expand community pharmacy residency programs for recent pharmacy school graduates.

Each of the grant recipients will receive $50,000 over the next three years from the NACDS Foundation to support the development of a residency position for graduates of accredited schools and colleges of pharmacy.

The following academic institutions received the Community PREP grants for the first round of awards:

• Purdue University, with practice sites at The Kroger Co.
• University of Missouri — Kansas City, with practice sites at Red Cross Pharmacy, Inc.
• University of North Carolina, with practices sites at Kerr Drug, Inc.

Established in 2010, Community PREP seeks to create 30 new, fully accredited, post-graduate, year-one community pharmacy residency opportunities through grants to non-profit pharmacy schools and colleges. The grants are designed to foster the creation or expansion of a patient-focused residency program, where a faculty member or preceptor will oversee the selected pharmacy resident’s learning experience at a pharmacy practice site, according to NACDS.

Grant recipients are determined based on the recommendations of an independent review committee comprised of representatives from the American Association of College of Pharmacy (AACP), American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and the NACDS Foundation.

“The Community PREP grant program was developed to provide expanded opportunities for pharmacy school graduates to pursue community pharmacy residencies and hone their skills in providing patient care services,” said NACDS Foundation President Edith A. Rosato, RPh, IOM. “I commend these three prestigious recipients for their dedication to patient care and their laudable commitment to mentoring the next generation of pharmacy graduates.”

Community PREP grant applications are currently being accepted. The deadline is July 1, 2011. Twelve additional grants will be awarded in 2011 and another 15 will be awarded in 2012.

For more information on Community PREP, click here.