The University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina are founding institutions of the S.C. College of Pharmacy, which was formed in 2004 when the universities� two independent pharmacy colleges integrated. The Upstate program, which received accreditation approval this past summer, was created to better serve pharmacy students living in the Upstate and give students and faculty better access to health outcomes research.

�We have truly arrived as a statewide institution,� said Joseph T. DiPiro, executive dean of the S.C. College of Pharmacy. �Our students have regional access to resources from a major academic medical center, a comprehensive university and a large, progressive hospital system.�

GHS has been involved in pharmacy education for more than 10 years, serving as a clinical rotation site for hundreds of fourth-year pharmacy students. In 2005, GHS announced it would invest $5 million over 10 years to help expand and promote pharmacy education in the Upstate. Fast forward to 2011, and pharmacy students are preparing to receive onsite didactic training at GHS.

�This is an exciting time for GHS and the Upstate community. Today we celebrate the opening of the new S.C. College of Pharmacy campus here at GHS, and a year from now we look forward to celebrating the first class of students admitted to the new University of South Carolina School of Medicine-Greenville,� said GHS President and CEO Mike Riordan. �We also know that medical students are likely to stay where they train, and it�s our hope that these pharmacy students, and other medical students training at GHS, will remain in the Upstate long after they�ve completed school.�

The S.C. College of Pharmacy enrolls a total of 760 students, or 190 per class, with 110 on the Columbia campus and 80 on the Charleston campus. Up to 25 total students entering their third year have the option to transfer from either campus to the new program at GHS. A full-time SCCP Upstate regional director and GHS faculty, along with part-time faculty at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, provide student advisement.

About the South Carolina College of Pharmacy

The South Carolina College of Pharmacy (SCCP) was formed in 2004 through the integration of the Colleges of Pharmacy at the University of South Carolina in Columbia (USC) and the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston (MUSC). The SCCP is a statewide education, research and service institution that combines the nationally recognized faculty, staff and resources of MUSC, a major academic medical center; USC, a large comprehensive university; and Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center, a large progressive hospital system, to create a statewide approach to pharmacy education that is on par with some of the most highly regarded colleges in the United States.