Generation Rx
JOHNSON CITY (March 30, 2018) – For the third time in a row, the American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) has named East Tennessee State University’s Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy as having the best overall Generation Rx committee in the country.
Generation Rx is a national organization with affiliated chapters located at pharmacy schools all over the country. The aim of the organization is to target prescription drug abuse through public education.
Since its inception, the ETSU Generation Rx committee has aimed to enhance medication safety and combat the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs. Members have reached thousands of young people through community outreach presentations and even have created a provider toolkit presentation to help educate health care providers about safe prescribing practices.
In the 2016-17 academic year alone, Generation Rx members at ETSU partnered with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to create a continuing education program on opioid safety and overdose that has been reviewed by more than 33,000 pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and physicians in all 50 states. During that same time period, Generation Rx members conducted nearly 60 events, providing education that reached a total of 101,733 community members, health care providers, student pharmacists and other health care professional students.
During the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) annual meeting earlier this month, the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy chapter of APhA-ASP, which is the student organization within which Generation Rx resides, was recognized as first-runner up among colleges with up to 300 students for its achievements as an organization.
Dr. Sarah Melton and Dr. McKenzie Calhoun, faculty members at the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, spoke at the annual meeting about naloxone and implementing advanced pharmacy practice, respectively. Additionally, Gatton research fellow Dr. Karilynn Dowling and faculty members Drs. Katelyn Alexander, Susie Crowe and Kathy Mueller presented posters.