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- Organization Overview
- Dean’s Office
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
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Patient Care
Overview
The new health care landscape, the high cost of drugs, the rise of polypharmacy, the prospects of genetically determining drug response—and therefore selection and dosing for an individual—and more make this the time for pharmacists to practice at the top of their profession as never before. The UCSF School of Pharmacy is dedicated to helping patients benefit from the right medicines, taken correctly, safely, and effectively.
Much of the School’s patient care agenda is carried out in close collaboration with the UCSF Medical Center. Within the UCSF Health Pharmacy Enterprise, the School’s faculty pharmacists in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and UCSF Medical Center pharmacists work closely to improve the evidence-based use of therapeutics at UCSF. Through the dissemination of their research, they affect care beyond UCSF.
The School’s faculty pharmacists are also developing new models of care outside the hospital to meet the medication needs of a changing health care environment.
Patient care in the School’s Department of Clinical Pharmacy is under way in the following settings:
The COVID-19 pandemic has also spurred action in our COVID-19 patient care responses.
History of innovation in patient care
The UCSF School of Pharmacy has a long history of pioneering the pharmacy care of patients. In the 1960s, the School was the first to train pharmacists as drug therapy specialists and not simply drug dispensers. This philosophical and academic shift positioned pharmacists as clinical pharmacists who, as active members of the health care team, began to work side by side with physicians and nurses, providing direct care to patients and consulting with patients’ families. That was then; this is now. The possibilities are tremendous for pharmacists to meet patient care needs in new ways as part of collaborative health care teams.
Leadership
Vice Dean of Clinical Affairs
Desi Kotis, PharmD, leads the UCSF Health Pharmacy Enterprise and provides the School with patient care oversight, health services research opportunities, and high-quality clinical education.
Co-Vice Deans of Clinical Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Jennifer Cocohoba, PharmD, MAS, (left) and Katherine Yang, PharmD, MPH, (right) assist in developing new models of pharmacy practice and foster patient care partnerships with UCSF Health and external stakeholders in community pharmacy, public health, and other pharmacy schools.