SULLIVAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF PHARMACY AND HEALTH SCIENCES STUDENTS VOLUNTEERING TO ADMINISTER COVID-19 VACCINES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 2, 2021

Contact:
Misty M. Stutz, PharmD
Dean and Professor
Sullivan University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
502-413-8964
mstutz@sullivan.edu

LOUISVILLE, KY – Highlighting the key role pharmacists play in providing community health services, more than 50 volunteer pharmacy students from The Sullivan University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (SUCOPHS) have helped deliver COVID-19 vaccines throughout Greater Louisville and Southern Indiana.

With the need for more vaccines to be administered to priority groups, Doctor of Pharmacy students as well as students in Sullivan University's Physician Assistant (PA) program are volunteering to help.

“Our students continue to provide key roles in the distribution and administration of vaccines for COVID," said Dr. Misty Stutz, a professor and Dean of the SUCOPHS. "Since the first vaccines arrived in Kentucky and Southern Indiana, our students have paved a way for health systems and the public health departments to vaccinate thousands of people in our community. They are showing the true impact pharmacists can have in the role of public health.”

The majority of SUCOPHS students have volunteered at Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville, Ind., and at Broadbent Arena with the Louisville Department of Public Health and Wellness. By helping with duties that include administering and preparing the vaccine, students are helping to combat the pandemic while learning valuable lessons.

"Our students are studying and applying knowledge as they work toward becoming pharmacists and physician assistants," said James Nash, SUCOPHS professor and the associate dean of Clinical/Experiential Education. "Gaining experience and working with other professionals in these interprofessional settings help them improve their skills and gain comfort in collaborating in health care teams."

"Additionally, our students are giving back to the community and helping the community become healthier, smarter, and stronger during the time of this global pandemic," Nash said. "And our students are modeling the way for others, as they also receive the vaccine to protect themselves and the public they serve."

As additional phases of the vaccine are rolled out and more people are in need of the vaccine, SUCOPHS students, faculty and staff will continue volunteering.

"Our students are fully equipped and trained to help as the rollout of the vaccine continues to be made available to other populations," Nash said. "As health professionals, they are trained in the fields of microbiology, immunology, and pharmacology, being competent in the knowledge of viruses and the prevention and treatment of these."

 The volunteer experience is also providing the students with a larger lesson.

"Public health is not looking at the health of an individual but a population as a whole," Nash said. "Pharmacists are uniquely positioned to help in these vaccination efforts, being integrated in the community in pharmacies that are accessible to the public."

About Sullivan University

Sullivan University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Sullivan University or visit them online at www.sacscoc.org.

The University offers numerous certificates, diplomas, and degrees in career-oriented programs, ranging from business, pharmacy, human resources, I.T. and cyber security, supply-chain management, culinary and baking and pastry arts, hospitality studies, conflict management, nursing, allied health sciences, HVAC-R, interior design, and legal studies. Sullivan University has campuses in Louisville and Lexington, an extension in Fort Knox on the U.S. Army Post, and a Learning Center in Louisa. Sullivan University also has many programs available partially or wholly online. For more information, visit www.sullivan.edu.