Universities Will Disband Joint Pharmacy Program

A joint pharmacy program between 2 South Carolina universities is splitting in half.

The University of South Carolina (USC) and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) pharmacy schools had united as a program in 2004 and were led by 1 executive dean.

The original partnership was touted as a way to be more efficient, but now the schools maintain that it will be better off as 2 programs.

After the dean of the joint pharmacy program left last year, students expressed a desire to have a “campus-specific pharmacy identity,” according to The State.

“While we are dissolving the administrative coupling, we continue to be strongly committed to collaboration with education and research,” USC campus pharmacy dean Randall Rowen said in a news release.

The program will disband in 2019 when the last students graduate. Meanwhile, the 2 schools will seek independent accreditation.

The University of South Carolina board of trustees voted to separate on August 7, 2015. MUSC will decide on the proposal on August 14, 2015.