School of Pharmacy partnership with Pharm. D. preceptor and Boston Medical Center recognized with AACP Crystal APPLE Award

The Northeastern University School of Pharmacy together with John Marshall, Clinical Specialist in Critical Care, and Boston Medical Center, have been awarded the 2008 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Crystal APPLE Award for achieving excellence in academic-practice partnerships for exemplary experiential education.

“It is an honor to be recognized with the Crystal APPLE Award for the second year in a row,” said Debra A. Copeland, Assistant Clinical Professor and Director of Experiential Education in the School of Pharmacy at the Bouvé College of Health Sciences. “The award is a testament to Northeastern’s excellence in experiential education. It recognizes the exemplary relationship between the University and Boston Medical Center.”

The AACP Crystal APPLE (Academic-Practice Partnerships for Learning Excellence) Award, sponsored by Merck & Company, Inc., recognizes the contributions of faculty and administrators at colleges and schools of pharmacy and the pharmacist practitioner educators and administrators who are their practice partners in successfully conducting and supporting quality experiential education in exemplary patient care clinical teaching environments.

“The AACP Crystal APPLE awards program seeks to identify the most exemplary clinical education sites as judged by students and peers and hold them up as models for the Academy,” explained Dr. Lucinda L. Maine, AACP executive vice president and CEO. “The competition for this prestigious recognition is intense and reflects the strong commitment to quality experiential education of these academic-practice partners.”

In the coming year, a profile describing each partnership will be featured in AACP’s Academic Pharmacy Now and on the AACP Web site in the Academic-Practice Partnership Initiative (APPI) category of the Resources section.

“Everyone within the pharmacy profession, practitioners, educators, students and leaders, bear the responsibility to prepare our next generation of pharmacists,” said David Miller, director of pharmacy affairs for Merck & Co. “The Crystal APPLE Award isn’t just an awards program to recognize a few individuals but rather it highlights models that any pharmacist can develop in collaboration with their school of pharmacy.”

Northeastern University, Copeland, Marshall, and Site Administrator Arthur Theodore, M.D. of Boston Medical Center, along with seven other colleges and schools of pharmacy and their practice partners, will be honored with a Tiffany & Co. crystal apple and plaque, as well as an honorarium for professional development during the 2009 AACP Interim Meeting Awards Ceremony on Monday, February 23, 2009.

For more information, please contact Samantha Fodrowski at 617-373-5427 or at s.fodrowski@neu.edu.

About Northeastern

Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston. Northeastern is a leader in interdisciplinary research, urban engagement, and the integration of classroom learning with real-world experience. The university’s distinctive cooperative education program, where students alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of paid work in fields relevant to their professional interests and major, is one of the largest and most innovative in the world. The University offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in six undergraduate colleges, eight graduate schools, and two part-time divisions. For more information, please visit www.northeastern.edu.

About BMC

Boston Medical Center is a private, not-for-profit, 582-bed, academic medical center affiliated with Boston University School of Medicine. Committed to providing high-quality health care to all, the hospital offers a full spectrum of pediatric and adult care services including primary and family medicine and advanced specialty care with an emphasis on community-based care. Boston Medical Center offers specialized care for complex health problems and is a leading research institution. Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine are partners in the Boston HealthNet—15 community health centers focused on providing exceptional health care to residents of Boston. For more information, please visit www.bmc.org

About AACP

Founded in 1900, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) is a national organization representing the interests of pharmacy education and educators. Comprising all 108 U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy including more than 5,000 faculty, 50,000 students enrolled in professional programs and 3,900 individuals pursuing graduate study, AACP is committed to excellence in pharmacy education. To learn more about AACP, visit its Web site at www.aacp.org.

About Merck

Merck & Co., Inc. is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first. Established in 1891, Merck currently discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines to address unmet medical needs. The Company devotes extensive efforts to increase access to medicines through far-reaching programs that not only donate Merck medicines but help deliver them to the people who need them. Merck also publishes unbiased health information as a not-for-profit service. For more information, visit www.merck.com.