Future pharmacists have 40 more reasons to look forward to a promising career in Maryland with the opening of a 40-student campus in Rockville for the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.
The Baltimore School will open its nationally ranked doctor of pharmacy program at The Universities at Shady Grove this fall.
“There?s a shortage of pharmacists in Maryland, and our current school is filled to the brim,” Dean David Knapp said.
Though the school graduates about 120 students a year, most receive three or more job offers right out of school, he said. Each year the school receives about 1,400 applications.
Students in Shady Grove will be taught by a small local staff and in digital classrooms televised from Baltimore, Knapp said.
The expansion will be supported through state funding at the request of the Board of Regents, according to information released by the School of Pharmacy. The University of Maryland, Baltimore will cover the construction of pharmacy-specific facilities at Shady Grove.
“Such an investment is worthwhile to support the university?s mission,” UMB President David Ramsay said. “Moving our program to Shady Grove also gives our research-intensive School of Pharmacy a foothold in the heart of Montgomery County?s Interstate 270 research corridor.”
The school is also pushing for a new pharmacy building on the Baltimore campus in efforts to double enrollment over the next 10 years, according to information provided by the University. Last spring, the state provided preliminary planning money, and the school has engaged architects to begin work on the building.
