University of Montana Awarded $1.2 Million Grant for Native American Pharmacy Program

The Office of Student Services in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at The University of Montana has been awarded a $1.2 million grant to expand and establish programs for American Indian pharmacy students.

The grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides continuing support to UM’s Native American Center of Excellence.

The NACOE program was developed to improve American Indian student academic performance and to provide opportunities for Indian faculty development. Other program goals are:

· To be a central minority health education resource for students and faculty.

· To facilitate research opportunities for students and faculty on Indian health issues.

· To develop a Native American Health and Cultural Competency lecture series, providing students, faculty and professionals opportunities to learn about health care needs of minority groups.

· To provide cultural competency training for all faculty and staff in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy.

The NACOE program is headed by Lori Morin, assistant dean for Student Affairs, and Estella Anderson, director for pre-pharmacy advising. The program also will establish a consortium of staff, faculty and researchers from UM-affiliated colleges and tribal colleges across the state, as well as several Montana organizations involved in health care.

The consortium’s goal is to establish working relationships with community-based organizations, school districts, tribal colleges and other post-secondary schools to recruit Indian students into UM’s pharmacy program. Among U.S. pharmacy programs, the Skaggs School of Pharmacy currently enrolls the third-highest number of Indian students.

For more information, visit http://www.umt.edu/coe or contact Morin, 406-243-4080, [email protected], or Anderson, 406-243-4029, [email protected].