LECOM School of Pharmacy Receives Full Accreditation

Erie, PA – July 2005 – Three years of hard work has paid off for the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) with the announcement that the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) has granted full accreditation to the LECOM School of Pharmacy.   The accreditation process moved on time and as quickly as the unique, fast track, three year Doctor of Pharmacy program the College opened in 2002.
 
The ACPE met in late June to review the Doctor of Pharmacy program at LECOM following graduation of the first School of Pharmacy class at LECOM.
 
“This recognition by ACPE is a credit to the administration, faculty members and students who worked diligently to meet all of the standards of a very high quality pharmacy education program,” said School of Pharmacy Dean Donald Tuttle, Pharm.D.  “We can already see the results of these efforts in the job placements of our first graduates.”   All 76 School of Pharmacy graduates have accepted job offers from community pharmacies, clinics, hospitals and educational institutions.
 
The School of Pharmacy opened in 2002, following several years of intense planning to bring a new professional health education program to Erie, Pennsylvania. The ACPE first granted pre-accreditation status to LECOM in 2002 allowing the college to recruit students and begin classes. That September, the first students began the year-round, fast track course of study. The LECOM Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum enables students to complete the professional degree program in three years after meeting pre-pharmacy requirements at an undergraduate college. ACPE inspectors have monitored the progress of the School of Pharmacy and most recently visited the campus in April for a pre-graduation inspection.
 
After its June meeting, the ACPE Board of Directors granted full accreditation to the LECOM Doctor of Pharmacy program until June 2007, which represents the customary two-year cycle for initial full accreditation. The ACPE accreditation team will revisit the LECOM School of Pharmacy during the 2006-2007 academic year.
 
Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) is the national agency for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy and providers of continuing pharmacy education. ACPE was established in 1932 for the accreditation of pre-service education, and in 1975 its scope of activity was broadened to include accreditation of providers of continuing pharmacy education. ACPE is the sole accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit professional degree programs in pharmacy.
 
The Council is an autonomous and independent agency whose Board of Directors is derived through the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) (three appointments each), and the American Council on Education (ACE) (one appointment).
 
The professional program of the School and its accreditation status will be designated on the ACPE web site, http://www.acpe-accredit.org.  ACPE's offices are located at 20 North Clark Street Suite 2500, Chicago, IL 60602-5109, Phone: (312) 664-3575 Fax: (312) 664-4652