Duquesne University has partnered with CVS Pharmacy to provide financial aid to the pharmacy chain’s employees who are interested in becoming pharmacists. The school announced Tuesday that CVS employees who qualify will be able to pursue a Doctor of Pharmacy degree online at a reduced cost.
The partnership is aimed at addressing a nationwide pharmacist shortage by removing financial “barriers to obtaining higher education,” Duquesne said in a statement.
“We know too many places are under-resourced in our urban and rural communities,” said Duquesne President Ken Gormley. “This program reflects Duquesne’s innovative approach to meeting health care needs in our region and beyond.”
Duquesne said 25 students qualified for the program’s first year, set to begin in the fall. Those students will have 50% of their tuition costs covered over the course of the four-year degree program. According to CVS, the new scholarship can also be combined with existing financial aid provided by the company, further driving down costs.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 13,000 job openings for pharmacists are projected each year, many resulting from workers who leave the profession due to burnout, other career opportunities or to retire. Combine that with a steady decline in pharmacy school enrollment, and federal data predicts a shortage of nearly 5,000 pharmacists in the next 15 years.
Fewer pharmacists could lead to worsening health care disparities, as they play an outsized role in the health of some communities. Federal data shows patients visit their community pharmacist as much as twice as often as their primary care physician. Some patients are using pharmacy services more frequently because they’re easier to access than an office visit with a doctor, according to Jim Drennen, dean of Duquesne’s School of Pharmacy.
“[Pharmacists] are on the front lines of health care and the most accessible to a majority of citizens in our country,” said Drennen. “They play a very important role in everything from providing vaccines to providing lifesaving medicines and a lot of advice to patients.”
He noted the shortage is regional, with some areas facing larger gaps than others. But by partnering with a national company like CVS, he said Duquesne will be able to play a larger role in addressing the pharmacist pipeline shortage beyond the Pittsburgh region.
By pushing qualifying students to the University’s online program, Duquesne will be able to train students from across the country who are otherwise “bound to their current community by work, [or] by family responsibilities,” Drennen said.
“By equipping CVS Pharmacy technicians with advanced education and training, we not only better their careers but also ensure that communities with the greatest need have access to skilled, compassionate pharmacists,” he said.
Duquesne also has a partnership with Westmoreland County Community College, where CVS technicians can complete the two-year prerequisite courses required before transferring to the PharmD program.
CVS employees who are enrolled in Duquesne’s pharmacy school will be selected by the company for the new tuition assistance program and later start their pharmacist careers at select CVS locations, the company said in a statement.
“To continue to meet patients’ needs in the communities we serve, it’s crucial that we support students who are interested in community pharmacy as a career,” said Len Shankman, president of pharmacy and consumer wellness with CVS Health. “We believe that innovative tuition-support programs … will support students on their path to pharmacy and help ensure patients continue to have convenient and local access to pharmacy care.”