College of Pharmacy and Nutrition Receives $75,000 Grant

Posted April 24, 1998


Astra Pharma contributes to enhancement of
drug information skills for Pharmacy students

Astra Pharma, a research-based, pharmaceutical company, has
contributed a $75,000 grant to the University of Saskatchewan's College
of Pharmacy and Nutrition.

The three-year grant will provide support for Pharmacy students to
evaluate drug literature and answer drug information questions. It will
also go towards improving the curriculum in response to the evolving role
of pharmacists: it has become more important for pharmacists to be able to
gather, evaluate, and disseminate the large amount of medical and drug
information.

Students will be exposed to sophisticated resources such as the Internet
to answer drug information requests; they will learn a hands-on approach,
Paul Melnyk, Dial Access Drug Information Service manager, says,
adding that grants such as Astra Pharma?s are necessary to fill funding
shortages and ensure that students are properly educated.

Other grant benefits include incorporating drug information into the entire
pharmacy program (previously, it was offered as an optional course).
Exposure to this component of pharmacy practice earlier in the program
will better prepare students for providing patient care when they graduate.

This commitment by Astra Pharma reflects the company's value of
supporting initiatives that help ensure health care professionals are as
well informed as possible in providing patient care. It s also consistent
with Astra?s belief that the pharmacist has an increasing role to play in
health care.

"Our philosophy is to work in partnership with organizations in the
community to enhance the delivery of health care," Murray Brown, Astra
Pharma executive director of external affairs, says.

For more information, please contact:

Paul Melnyk, Dial Access and Drug Service manager
College of Pharmacy and Nutrition
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-6340