University of Oklahoma pharmacy professors pursue theirresearch interests in modern, high-tech laboratories while guidingtheir students back to the time when the neighborhood pharmacistwas the friend his customers called "Doc . "

A campus tour note to return-ing alumni:

If you want to visit theCollege of Pharmacy atthe University of Okla-

homa, you won't find it in Norman .OU's oldest professional program -

nearing 100 years of academia -moved from the Norman campus to theOU Health Sciences Center complexin Oklahoma City in 1976 . The reloca-tion integrated the college into thetotal health-care environment foundat HSC and allowed it to begin usingthe complex's abundant resources.The move, says Dean Victor Yan-

chick, was well worth the 83-yearwait ."Colleges of pharmacy that are not

located in centers like this have twostrikes against them," Yanchick says ."It is so important to be intimatelyinvolved and integrated into the totalhealth-care programs, because that'sbasically where pharmacy has to beas a profession . We can't operate in iso-lation as pharmacists ."We have to work together with

physicians, occupational therapists,physical therapists, dietitians, nursesand all other types of health-care pro-fessionals as a team," he adds . "That

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is an absolute given . If pharmacy col-leges don't have that resource, theymust find that resource outside theuniversity. And that becomes costly."

Established in 1893, the pharmacyprogram provided OU's first two grad-uates. Pharmaceutical chemist (Ph.C .)degrees were bestowed upon LemuelDorrance of Lexington and MarshallA. Tucker of Norman in 1896 . The de-gree required two years of high schooland two years of college .By 1899 the department had become

the School of Pharmacy, which was up-graded to "collegiate" status, meaningstudents could study for a bac-calaureate degree, the first going toOscar Carl Felton in 1910 . A graduateprogram was added in 1909 . The schoolbecame the College of Pharmacy in1950 .The move to the Health Sciences

Center necessitated a drive for a newpharmacy building . The $7.75 millionfunding goal was reached in 1981 with$6 million from the state, $750,000from private donors and $1 millionfrom the estate of Henry D . and IdsMosier, for whom the new buildingwas named .The Mosier endowment also funds

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an extensive student scholarship pro-gram in pharmacy in memory of thecouple . Henry Mosier, an Edmondpharmacist and real estate investor,was a 1912 OU pharmacy graduatewho died in 1966 ; hiswife died in 1976 .The Mosier building stands on the

corner of Stanton L . Young Boulevardand Stonewall Avenue . Seated in hisoffice on the top floor ofthe three-storybrick structure, Dean Yanchick ex-plains his effort to place the collegeamong the top-ranked in the nation .His leadership philosophy is designedto link the present with the past . Yan-chick's mission is to vault the collegeinto the 21st century with high-techknowledge and research, while retain-ing a hold on the values and humanis-tic qualities ofpharmacy's early days .

Included in his approach are plansto continue the "exciting and very in-novative" research already under way;to initiate a doctor of pharmacy(Pharm.D .) degree program ; to beefupa "people oriented" curriculum ; and tostress the urgency of desperatelyneeded state funding ."There's no reason for this college

not to be one of the top five collegesin the country because ofthe physicalresources we have here," Yanchick con-tends . "This is one ofthe finest healthcenters in the world from a physicalstandpoint . The resources here arejustphenomenal."Those resources, Yanchick notes, en-

ticed him to accept the deanship onJanuary 1, 1985 .

Before taking the OU post, Yanchickserved in a variety of positions at theUniversity of Texas College of Phar-macy inAustin, moving from assistantprofessor to associate dean . Prior toassuming duties in Texas in 1968, hewas responsible for starting the clini-cal pharmacy program at Purdue Uni-versity, where he served from 1966 to1968 .Purdue was among the pioneer pro-

grams in the nation. "I was one of the

first individuals to begin what we nowterm the development of the `clinical'role of the pharmacist," Yanchick saysof his efforts to establish differentteaching methods for pharmacy stu-dents .

Yanchick also initiated the clinicalprogram at Texas and authored theproposal to establish the Pharm.D .program . Hisexperience prepared himfor a smooth transition into the OUslot ."Pharmacy has undergone a sort of

,silent revolution' in the last decade orso," the dean notes . "We've moved backto where pharmacy was at the turn ofthe century-a time in which thepharmacist was referred to as 'Doc,'where people came in to talk to thepharmacist about their problems . Thepharmacist was there to help them .The pharmacist talked to people ."

Yanchick received his bachelor's andmaster's degrees in pharmacy from theUniversity of Iowa in the mid-1960s .After residency training, he earned aPh.D . from Purdue in 1968 ."When I went to pharmacy school,

pharmacists weren't expected to talkto people," he recalls . "Now we're talk-ing to people again . I think that'sgreat . It's exciting."

Since Yanchick took over as dean,the curriculum has been completelyrevised . "Our baccalaureate cur-riculum is focusing much more ontraining the pharmacist to be not onlyresponsible for dispensing drugs,which is the function of the pharma-cist from the historical perspective,but also more importantly, we're train-ing our pharmacists to be dispensersof drug information," he notes . "We'retraining them to provide consultationto patients and to be a resource to thephysician and to other health profes-sionals when it comes to drugs ."We are emphasizing, in our cur-

riculum, the need for the pharmacistto come out from behind the prescrip-tion counter and talk to people," Yan-chick says . "Today, the dispensingfunction alone is not going to allowpharmacists to survive . Ifthe pharma-cist only provides that function, thepharmacist will beextinct, because wealready have the technical manpowerand automation to dispense drugs bymachine." Continued

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Enrollment at the College of Phar-macy stands at 234 in the bac-calaureate program, which requirestwo years of pre-pharmacy plus threeofprofessional study at HSC . This fall,87 students were admitted as first-year professionals . May graduates willnumber 59 . Graduate enrollment is33 .The dean insists that these students

will be well-prepared when they leavethe OU College of Pharmacy.

Yanchick has been instrumental inurging the State Board of Pharmacyto change a requirement that Okla-homa pharmacy students complete2,000 internship hours before becom-ing eligible to take the board exam .Texas requires only 1,500 hours, thestandard Oklahoma will adopt in May1989 .Although the number of internship

hours is being reduced, the criteria tobe met are being strengthened . Pastregulations allowed students to gradu-ate even if they had never actuallyworked a day as a pharmacist through-out their entire college careers . Therewere no guidelines for a student's2,000 hours of experience in a phar-macy."That student, theoretically, could

be dusting shelves or washing thefloors and ringing the cash registerand selling bubble gum for 2,000hours and that would meet the law,"Yanchick explains .

"Today, we have guidelines and stan-dards," he insists . "It's a course . Thestudent takes the course and is as-signed to a pharmacy, one-on-one

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under a pharmacist who is licensedand appointed by the college as an ad-junct instructor. That student has asyllabus and certain criteria thatmust be met . The student must demon-strate competency before he passes."When Yanchick came on board as its

10th dean, the College of Pharmacyhad "a shortage of faculty, low morale,a very poor budget, and students whoreally didn't feel part of the Univer-sity," he says . "The move from the Nor-man campus alienated some . Thealumni ofthe college weren't very sup-portive of the college and its mission,primarily because they didn't knowwhat its mission was. I've tried tochange that, and I think we've madesome good headway."The college has nearly doubled its

faculty, jumping from 17 to 32 in fouryears . In research, pharmacy has gonefrom less than $18,000 annually ingrants to nearly $2 million ."When you look at that $2 million

total, that says a lot for the faculty,"Yanchick says. "Faculty members areunder the clear understanding that tobe successful, they must not only pro-vide good teaching and services, butalso scholarly activities ."Agencies such as the National Insti-

tutes of Health, American Heart As-sociation and the Department of De-fense are among those supportingOU's pharmacy research programs .Gordon Sachdev, research associate

professor of medicinal chemistry, hasa "world class" research program inthe area of cystic fibrosis, the deannotes . Over the past two years, Sach-dev has brought in more than $1 mil-lion in an attempt to find a cure forthe disease that has baffled re-searchers for decades .Robert A. Magarian, professor of

medicinal chemistry, and J . ThomasPento, professorofpharmacodynamicsand toxicology, are testing anti-estrogens in the treatment of breastcancer.

Associate Professor Stanley Millsand Professor Garo P Basmadjian ofnuclear pharmacy, are conducting re-search into the targeting of tumors .

"They're developing very site-specific antibodies that are able to at-tack tumors and not only shrink them,but also actually cause them to disap-pear," Yanchick explains .

"These are areas being highly de-

Dean Victor Yanchick

OPPOSITE PAGE:At top left, nuclear pharmacists GaroP. Basmadjian, left, and Stanley Millsare developing site-specific antibodieswhich they hope will attack and shrinktumors, even cause them to disappear.

At bottom left, professors J . ThomasPento, left, ofpharmacodynamics andtoxicology, and Robert Magarian, ofmedicinal chemistry, are testing anti-estrogens in treating breast cancer.

At right, research associate professorofmedicinal chemistry Gordon Sachdevhas more than $1 million in outsidegrants to support his quest for a curefor cystic fibrosis .rrw~

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veloped in the college that have thepotential for dramatic breakthroughsin the treatment of cancer and also inthe understanding ofthe biochemistryand genetic changes that occur in cys-tic fibrosis patients," he adds . "We maybe able to unravel the genethat causescystic fibrosis and come up with acure."Other research projects involve de-

signing innovative dosage forms andnew types of delivery systems . Thesesystems would target much moreclosely the area of disease with fewerside effects ."We're looking at the use ofelectric

current to move drugs through theskin," he explains . "It's an interestingphenomenon ."Other faculty are studying the area

of cost-containment and drug utiliza-tion and developing programs inwhich patients can be better assuredof proper therapy.

"I really can't begin to express myenthusiasm for all that has been donehere in just a very short period oftimewith a very modest budget from thestate," Yanchick says . "We're in thelower 25 percent as far as funding ofcolleges of pharmacy in the country.And yet, we're in the top 25 percentin the research area .

"All I'm interested in is that we arefunded at a level from which we canprovide a good, solid base for teachingand research programs," Yanchick con-tinues . "It is my responsibility as dean

to seek outside funding to move thecollege from a level of strength to alevel of excellence . I don't expect thestate of Oklahoma to provide 100 per-cent support for all of our efforts, butit should support us to provide a soundbase from which we can grow and pullin outside dollars . Right now, we don'thave that sound base financially."We should have double the base

support from the state that we have,"he claims. "Without that support, itwill be very difficult to continue ourjourney of onward and upward . Wewould probably at best plateau andpossibly drop, because faculty get frus-trated when they don't see an improve-ment in opportunities. And we're nottalking about millions and millions ofdollars .

"If you look at it from a businessstandpoint, it makes absolute sense,"he says . "For every additional dollarthe state gives the College of Phar-macy, we can pull in six times thatamount from the outside . That's apretty good return on an investment.For every one faculty position (approx-imately $50,000 from the state), thatindividual will be able to bring in sixtimes that amount in research money.Again, that contributes to economicgrowth and development of the state,and to the prestige of the University.That's the message I'm trying to getacross ."

"Pharmacists who are properlytrained can save millionsof dollars-just in thestate of Oklahoma. "

Sufficient funding also will beneeded to ensure the success of thePharm. D . program, which will givethose pharmacists the equivalent of a"doctor of medicine" or "doctor of den-tistry" degree . The college already hasa Ph.D . program, started in 1980, butthe Pharm . D . program will add depth,scope and proficiency to the practiceprogram, making its graduates "ex-perts" in the truest sense of the word,Yanchick explains .The Pharm . D . program is slated to

begin in July of 1989 .Although the future is hazy for the

College of Pharmacy if additionalfunding is not received, the outlookfor its graduates is clear.

"There are so many opportunitiestoday for pharmacy students thatweren't available 15 years ago," Yan-chick says . "Pharmacists are being re-lied upon more and more in the healthcare system to save money, becausedrugs are an extremely costly factorin health care today. Pharmacists whoare properly trained can save millionsof dollars - just in the state of Okla-homa - by becoming more involvedin managed health care and patientcare when it comes to monitoring thedrug selection ."Pharmacists also are becoming

much more involved in non-traditional practices such as homehealth care, nursing home care andconsultant pharmacy practice," headds . "It's exciting to see so manydoors opening into pharmacy."Most of the college's graduates over

the past 10 years have stayed in Okla-homa, Yanchick says . "The jobs arehere."However, since 60 percent of the col-

lege's graduates are women, manyeventually leave the state iftheir hus-bands are transferred . Others may goto Dallas, for instance, where the payis about 10 to 20 percent higher thanin Oklahoma . Yanchick quotes the av-erage salary for a beginning pharma-cist in an Oklahoma community phar-macy practice in the "upper 30s.""In hospital pharmacy, it's a little

less than that," he says . "Most of ourstudents still go into community phar-macy, whether it's for a large chain ora smaller independent pharmacy."

To aid the college in its future plans,a College ofPharmacy advisory boardwas formed recently to initiate a "veryaggressive fundraising campaign."The individual members will be reliedupon as a nucleus to develop a verystrong private support program, Yan-chick says ."In my scheme of things, I didn't

want to come in as a new dean andimmediately go around solicitingfunds from our alumni," the dean says ."What I intended to do was spendthree years developing confidence andtrust in our programs and a track rec-ord that I can deliver to our alumni .We're at the point now where I thinkwe have that ."

Loyd E. Harris, at left in the photo above with BillieWilliams at an Oklahoma Pharmaceutical Associ-ation display in the 1930s, went on to along tenureas professor of pharmacy at Ohio State and re-turned to end his academiccareer as dean at OU.

The photo at left commemorated the University'ssecond graduating class, 1897, consisting ofJohnBarbour, center, and Marvin Miller, right, bothpharmaceutical chemists . Their professor, left, wasEdwin C. DeBarr, who initiated the program in1893, headed chemistry 1892-23, andwas vicepres-ident from 1909 to 1923, only to be discredited forKu Klux Klan involvement .

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