Day-to-day pharmacy operations have changed significantly over the years, with increased demand on pharmacists prompting change to business models.
Jody Shkrobot, owner of Salvus Rxellence in St. Albert and president of the Canadian Pharmacists Association, said the aging population has put more pressure on pharmacies in terms of patient care, forcing the businesses to react and adapt.
“Pharmacies have definitely expanded some of their roles,” he said. “With that, there’s obviously changes around business models that allow that care delivery to occur.”
He said he feels training in business management would be beneficial to certain pharmacists to assist them in the evolving landscape of the profession.
“As health care expands … I think someone with that experience – the combination of health and medical background as well as some of the business management training – will be of value to some of the new practice models,” he said.
In response to these changing expectations, the University of Alberta introduced a new five-year dual degree giving students training in pharmacy as well as business.
“We feel that this is going to be for the students who really want to be entrepreneurs, who want to move forward in an independent pharmacy environment or students who want to move up into more management side, the business side of pharmacy,” said James Kehrer, dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
After five years of schooling, students will receive their bachelor of science in pharmacy as well as a Masters in Business Administration.
St. Albert’s Katherine Kolasa just completed the first year of her bachelor of science in pharmacy. Although news of the dual degree program is relatively new to her, she said it is an avenue she is thinking about taking in her fourth year.
“I’m considering taking it,” she said. “There’s different business courses you can take (in pharmacy), but it’s not the same.”
Kolasa is currently working at a pharmacy and said it is becoming obvious how important it is to have business knowledge, especially for individuals hoping to someday own their own pharmacy.
This is the first program of its kind in Canada and has been discussed for at least a decade within the faculty, Kehrer said. A few dozen students expressed interest in the program, although he said he is unsure how many will actually enrol. Enrolment has already begun with classes starting this September.
Shkrobot and his wife both graduated from the University of Alberta with bachelors of science in pharmacy in 1996. His wife, the primary pharmacist at Salvus Rxellence, has since returned to school for an MBA — something he says is a benefit to the business.
“The more exposure (students) have to those types of thinking processes and the theory … will be a benefit for those who are either in an upper-management role within a chain-type of pharmacy environment or for those who are a bit entrepreneurial-minded and wanting to run their own practice,” he said.
Shkrobot said if the program was offered when he was at the U of A, he likely would have enrolled.
