College of Pharmacy and Nutrition at the U of S hosts 4th Annual Pharmasave-Rubicon Pharmacy Student Business Plan Competition

The College of Pharmacy and Nutrition held the 4th annual Pharmasave-Rubicon Pharmacy Student Business Plan competition on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 on the U of S campus. The competition was created by Dr. Jason Perepelkin, Assistant Professor of Social & Administrative Pharmacy, in 2010. 

Over the past 4 years, approximately 60 groups of third year pharmacy students were tasked with developing business plans that introduced new services or enhanced services that could be made available by pharmacists. Each group created a fully detailed business plan that considered finances, marketing, implementation and evaluation. The goal of the competition is to encourage pharmacy students to look past the dispensary and consider the additional services that the pharmacist can provide to their patients. 

A few of the innovative plans created by pharmacy students have included veterinary pharmacy services to help pet owners ensure their pets are taking their medications in a user-friendly way; a gluten awareness program, where pharmacists will be trained to provide information to their patients regarding their dietary restrictions; and holistic education, awareness and treatment for patients with infectious diseases. 

“The ever-expanding role of the pharmacist means that they will be asked and expected to provide services that may not have been previously available in the pharmacy. The students think outside of the pharmacy box to develop feasible plans that could be implemented in many different pharmacy settings,” said Dr. Jason Perepelkin. “While it is great that pharmacists have a vast amount of clinical skills, if they are unable to implement and fully utilize these skills to benefit patients, in a sustainable manner, then pharmacists are not practicing to their full potential and the benefit to the public and individual patients is lost.” 

The winning team of the 4th annual Pharmasave-Rubicon Pharmacy Student Business Plan competition was a plan to create a central intravenous admixture program at Battlefords Union Hospital. The plan detailed how the implementation of an intravenous admixture program would not only increase sterilization, but would also decrease the risk of patient harm. The winning team received a cash prize, will have the opportunity to present at the annual conference of the Pharmacists' Association of Saskatchewan, and have their names engraved on a plaque that is displayed in the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition.

For more information please visit Student Business Plan Competition