In 2005 a decision was made by Touro College to develop a College of Pharmacy in New York. As a result of this decision, in 2006 a new Pharmacy program was planned for the Harlem community of New York City with serving the urban, ethnically diverse population of Harlem as a core value of the mission. The planned curriculum recognized the important role that pharmacists can play in meeting the goals of Healthy People 2010 and their role as a public health resource in communities. The public health component of this innovative Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum is contained in a series of public health courses in the first two years of coursework which is followed by two years of experiential education. Public health content includes coursework in the Foundations of Public Health in the first semester, Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the second semester followed by a course on Communities and Health Disparities in the third semester of the program. Public health-related elective offerings are offered in the fourth semester and in semesters five and six. The curriculum includes Introductory Practice Experiences and Advanced Practice Experiences that place students in community settings and public health facilities to develop the skills necessary to support public health advocacy. The year long Capstone Project in the fourth year of the program provides a research experience for each student and the opportunity to hone their organizational and communication skills in pharmacy and public health. It is expected that a graduate of the Touro College of Pharmacy will be a pharmacist responsive to the health care and public health needs of diverse communities and populations. Public Health Related Course Work Building a Public Health Focused College of Pharmacy Program Stuart Feldman, Ph.D. Touro College of Pharmacy, New York, NY Public Health Outreach First White Coat Ceremony Foundations of Public Health I – Determinants of Health Care Provides a detailed look at the United States health care system and how it is organized. Content includes policy and management issues affecting providers as well as patients; the role of government in financing care and maintaining quality; the relationship between health policy and management in their historical, economic and political context. Content in health economics presents students with a theoretical and analytical overview of the tools needed to address such topics as rising health care costs, the government role in health care and health care reform. Topics will include the economic determinants of health, the market for medical care, the market for health insurance, the role of the government in health promotion, environmental health, health care and health care reform, and cost-benefit analysis. Service- learning is a component of the three semester Foundations of Public Health sequence. Foundations of Public Health II - Biostatistics and Epidemiology This course addresses the need for pharmacists to be familiar with the disciplines of epidemiology and biostatistics. The biostatistics content presents information on commonly used statistical tests and their basis, management of data sets, evaluation of statistical results and understanding of statistical versus clinical significance. The epidemiology content focuses on principles and application of epidemiology to the study of drug use and outcomes in large populations, review of studies that provide an estimate of the probability of adverse effects in populations and other parameters relating to drug use benefit, methods for continual monitoring for unwanted effects and other safety-related aspects of drugs. Using references from both the biostatistics and epidemiology content students gain experience utilizing drug information technologies. Foundations of Public Health III – Communities and Health Disparities This course is an introduction to health disparities and cultural competence in public health. It will provide an overview of inter- and intra-ethnic health indices, socio-cultural aspects of health and help seeking, assessment techniques of health prevention and promotion, cultural translation and mobilization strategies for communities and their institutions, and methodologies to improve the delivery of public health interventions and to evaluate their effectiveness. Strategies for pharmacists to aid their communities, and environmental influences on health in reducing health disparities will be discussed. Pharmacy’s role in disease prevention will be introduced. A component of this course will be presentation and discussion of bioterrorism, biohazards and environmental influences on health Faculty with a background in public health were specifically recruited to provide a public health perspective to the Foundations in Public Health course sequence and develop elective and Capstone Project content. This was an essential element in developing the program so as to provide a public health perspective to the course content that was not tied to a preconceived notion of how pharmacy can contribute to the public’s health. Introduction Professional Introductory Practice Experience: Pharmacists Advocating for Health and Wellness (First year) This full time experience engages the student in learning about the Harlem community from the perspective of the people, environment, health, and policy making. Students will have the opportunity to choose from among various sites to spend 4 days a week (8 hours) for one month learning to become advocates for the profession, for health care and for the patients they will serve. Blackboard exercises and discussions provide students with consistent opportunities for learning and achieving course objectives. Students will return to the college one day during the month for reflection and sharing. Pharmacy Capstone Project (4th Year) A key component of the curriculum is the culminating experience. Supervised by college faculty, the capstone project is a culminating experience integrating knowledge, practice, and insights acquired in coursework and other learning experiences during the Doctor of Pharmacy program. The Capstone Project affords a variety of options for the PharmD student, including the writing of a professional paper, a journal article, biomedical or outcomes research, etc. Volunteer Faculty and Students from Touro College of Pharmacy Offer Free Seasonal Flu Vaccine to Harlem Community Faculty Hiring Plan Public health outreach activities in the Harlem Community provide students with an opportunity to put their course work into practice and for faculty to exercise their commitment to public health activities. In addition to course-related projects students and faculty participate in a range of events and programs, such as:  Partnering with Harlem Hospital Center’s Hip Hop H.E.A.L.S. Program and Touro’s Project Aspire in presentations to students, grades pre-kindergarten to 12th grade, from P.S. 197 and P.S. 4 in Harlem and the Bronx High School for Medical Science, on how to combat school-age obesity, diabetes, and to learn signs of an individual having a stroke. The College of Pharmacy provided label literacy information dealing with prescription medicines and over-the-counter drugs, while the Project Aspire team taught the students about exercise through its “Motion is the Potion” daily exercise for life-long health component, and by showcasing aerobic interactive video games, healthy cooking demonstrations, and advice on health careers, including medicine.  Distributing label literacy and health information handouts at neighborhood health fairs  Working with local pharmacies, the New York City Department of Health, and the New York Academy of Medicine to provide free flu immunization to neighborhood residents Student Commitment to the Public Health Mission of the College 100 % of students have participated in one or more public health outreach activities 50% of the posters focused on some aspect of public health in a recent assignment to create poster presentations in any area of the history of pharmacy In the poster assignment one group focused on the College’s focus on Public Health and was able to create this diagram of the relationship expressing the relationship between the field and the College. In keeping with the College’s commitment to community involvement and support the ceremony was held in a local venue so that rental and catering fees would help support the area. The author thanks Dr. Shelly Warwick for her help in designing this poster.