Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, or ACPHS, opened a satellite campus for graduate students in Colchester on Aug. 31 – the first pharmacy program in the state.

Seventy students from 20 states, including three from Vermont, were chosen from more than 1,200 applicants.

“They really have the best of both worlds,” said ACPHS Marketing Director Gil Chorbajian. “We have the history of having been in the field for 130 years, and at the same time the campus in Vermont is also the beneficiary of the latest and the greatest, everything from the faculty to the technology to the classrooms.”

Robert Hamilton, Pharm.D, who has been an ACPHS faculty member for nearly 30 years, is the Vermont campus’ associate dean and chief administrative officer.

Students who finish the four-year graduate program will earn a Doctor of Pharmacy, or Pharm.D. degree, which is required to practice pharmacy in the United States.

“Nobody’s been in here pounding on my desk, so it must be going pretty well,” joked Hamilton.

Aside from the sweeping views of the Adirondacks across Lake Champlain, building a new campus in Colchester gave them the opportunity to design ideal classrooms and labs, Hamilton said. He called the Vermont campus “Albany on steroids.”

The classrooms have built-in microphones at each desk and flat screen monitors, so teachers at either campus can simultaneously teach students at both campuses. There are state-of-the-art labs, as well as consulting rooms and a fully stocked model pharmacy, where students can practice interacting with patients.

A small campus also benefits students, Hamilton said.

“Students are going to know all of their classmates and they’re gong to have a closer relationship with the faculty,” Hamilton said. “It’s going to be a tighter-knit class.”

So, why Vermont?

“Vermont was, up until the moment our campus opened, one of three states without a pharmacy program – the other two being Delaware and Alaska,” Chorbajian said.
Job prospects for pharmacists are “excellent,” and pharmacist employment is expected to grow 22 percent by 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2008-09 Occupational Outlook Handbook.

“The increasing numbers of middle-aged and elderly people—who use more prescription drugs than younger people—will continue to spur demand for pharmacists,” stated the handbook, which provides career information for hundreds of job types.

The average annual salary in 2008 for pharmacists nationwide was approximately $104,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Hamilton said while financial security is a motivator for going into the field, it shouldn’t be the only reason.

“One of the things you get out of pharmacy is you’re probably going to have a job, but there’s a balance in there,” Hamilton said. “We want to make sure we’re recruiting students who are coming into the profession understanding society is really giving you a tremendous trust that you’re going to protect.”