Honors Capstone: Healthcare Disparities in Pharmacy Curriculum

Due to the prevalence of disparities within the United States healthcare system, this Honors Program Pharmacy Capstone project is filling the opportunity to enhance the curriculum. The project is focused on improving the educational opportunities for the Raabe College of Pharmacy related to health disparities relevant to the profession of pharmacy. This information will include the history of healthcare abuses to minority groups throughout United States history. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy includes academic goals for pharmacy curricula regarding health disparities. The pharmacy accreditation body (ACPE) sets standards that include educating student pharmacists about health disparities. Congruent with these criteria, the goal of the project is to deepen pre-existing areas of the curriculum which already reference disparities and add an elective course to provide deeper insight. This project will create more socially aware and compassionate student pharmacists and future practitioners, while also progressing the Ohio Northern pharmacy curriculum to be a more inclusive and open-minded leader in the education and preparation of professionals.