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Pharmacy Professor Receives Prestigious Scholarship

by Kathryn Sill, Public Relations Writer

Andrew Straw, Pharm.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice, recently received the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s (ACCP) Ambulatory Care PRN Scholarship. He is the fourth Cedarville University faculty member to receive the prestigious award. 

The scholarship has also been awarded in recent years to Melody L. Hartzler, Pharm.D.,  assistant professor of pharmacy practice; Zach Jenkins, Pharm.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice; and Emily Laswell, Pharm.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice.

The scholarship allows Straw to attend a teaching academy run by the ACCP. The academy is a 28-credit-hour course that is completed at ACCP meetings over two years. Straw plans to attend one session in San Francisco in the fall and a spring session in Phoenix.

As part of the application process for the scholarship, Straw wrote a paper detailing his current career status and ambitions.

“The ACCP seeks to help prepare pharmacists for clinical settings and also help them to specialize in different areas,” Straw said. “At the academy I will learn specific tools for effective teaching, teaching philosophies and student assessment. I will also be required to keep a teaching portfolio.”

After completing the courses, Straw will receive a teaching and learning certificate through the academy. As part of the scholarship, he is required to write a report on his experience and submit it to the ACCP.

Straw, who is in his first year of teaching at Cedarville, received his doctor of pharmacy degree from Ohio Northern University and then just recently completed his post-graduate residency at South Dakota State University, where he first taught in a classroom setting.

“I realized I enjoyed the classroom setting and when my former peer at Ohio Northern, Dr. Chelsea Manion, told me about an opening at Cedarville, I was excited to apply,” Straw said. “This position had three things in one place: the opportunity to teach, practice pharmacy, and be part of each student’s spiritual journey.” 

Straw is currently in the process of setting up two practice sites at the Rocking Horse Center, a community health center, and the Springfield Regional Medical Center, a nearby hospital. His goal is to set up a practice site at Rocking Horse that is a transition of care service. This means that Straw would see patients at the hospital and then discharge them to the clinic, where he will follow up with them. Straw would work half-days at both places.

Straw is currently in the process of completing the background work before implementing his program, which would allow students from Cedarville to participate in clinical rotations with him.

“I am grateful for the ACCP scholarship I received, because it will allow me to get an in-depth look of teaching which I can use in the classroom and practice sites to aid students in gaining hands-on experience,” Straw said.

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 3,711 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 100 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and leading student satisfaction ratings.

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