The ULM College of Pharmacy, on the other hand, remains open. But its satellite offices were flooded, and nearly 40 percent of its fourth-year pharmacy students face the disruption of their experiential rotations because their practice sites were in facilities in and around New Orleans.

AACP is coordinating various offers from pharmacy schools that range from placing fourth-year students at alternate facilities to complete their practice rotations to allowing them to enroll in classes at their institutions until Xavier resumes operations.

"Based on this support, I am extremely confident that our institution and our college of pharmacy will recover and grow stronger from this catastrophe," noted Wayne Harris, Ph.D., dean of Xavier's college of pharmacy, in an e-mail.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Virtually the entire pharmacy education community has rallied to support two hard-hit colleges of pharmacy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

More than 90 pharmacy schools have offered assistance to the two schools, Xavier University College of Pharmacy and the University of Louisiana at Monroe College of Pharmacy. That help is being coordinated by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and includes the sharing of alternate classroom space and fourth-year pharmacy practice sites.

Xavier was the hardest hit, with the entire university closed until January, following the flooding of the campus after New Orleans levies failed. Many of the school's buildings were under 6 feet of water, according to AACP, and school officials may be forced to seek another location when classes do resume.

Two University of Kansas professors provide 1,000 multiple choice questions on pharmaceutics, pharmacology, microbiology, chemistry, physiology, and clinical pharmacy that are similar to those found on the NAPLEX exam. The correct answers with brief explanations follow each chapter. The CD-ROM contains four practice exams.

"We believe the role of community pharmacy is key to solving the crisis that is health care in America," he said.

Held in the nation's capital, the annual gathering reflected its policy-making backdrop in both mood and content. Themed "Declaration of Independents," the venerable wholesaler's 28th annual Pharmacy Strategies Conference and Trade Show featured educational sessions and insights from federal officials on Medicare Part D drug benefits, along with a well-attended public policy forum whose topics ran the gamut from Medicare and Medicaid to mail order pharmacy's threat, counterfeit drugs, the growing methamphetamine problem, pseudoephedrine regulation and electronic tracking technology.

WASHINGTON -- More than 3,000 independent pharmacy owners, suppliers and other pharmacy advocates brought a laundry list of concerns about the future of community pharmacy to McKesson Corp.'s annual customer gathering last month. And chief among those concerns was a growing sense of urgency over the role pharmacy will play in the looming Medicare drug benefit program and within private, employer-sponsored pharmacy benefit plans.

"Clearly, government is going to get more and more involved in health care," said John Hammergren, McKesson chairman and chief executive officer, at the conference opening July 7. As it does, he told the audience, pharmacists need to step up their efforts to hold a "seat at the table" through their unique relationship with patients.
A group of physicians in Pennsylvania have found a way to increase patient convenience while generating extra revenue: By providing prescription drug vending machines that dispense generic medications at competitive prices.One Pennsylvania medical center installed a prescription drug vending machine in its office six years ago after a local insurer cut prescription drug benefits, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. The machine can be stocked with 30 to 40 kinds of generic medications from a product line of more than 100, at prices that are at or below retail pharmacy prices, the Journal says.