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If they were to begin a pharmacy program all over again, 97.8% of ������ý School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences graduates from the Class of 2021 would choose ������ý again, compared to only 80.4% of those from peer institutions and 82.4% from all schools nationwide.

That, according to responses to the 2021 Graduating Student Survey conducted by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.

The survey included 70 questions running the gamut from whether students felt prepared both academically and clinically, to access to resources, to school environment, to their overall experience.

“Because the response to this question was so overwhelmingly positive in an absolute sense and in comparison to other schools, it’s the best way of summarizing what you see in all of the other responses,” said Donald Nieman, interim dean as well as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Students believe they have faculty who cared about them, the classes they took prepared them to go into clinical settings, the school prepared them for interaction with diverse populations and they had preceptors who were caring, wonderful mentors.

“Students also had an experience that introduced them to research and they were really prepared for evidence-based pharmacy practice,” Nieman added. “Those were the goals we had for the school. It is really gratifying to know that the student body is very satisfied after four years of navigating a very demanding curriculum and a full year of clinical rotations.”

We were not yet accredited when these students enrolled, said Vice Dean Kanneboyina “Raju” Nagaraju. “I always told the students that they knew they were taking a risk with us, yet, apart from that, they first came to the main campus, then we moved them to Johnson City and then the pandemic came.

“When we delivered their lectures, we delivered for the first time in a traditional room on the main campus, then we came to Johnson City where they learned in a team-based room, then we converted to Zoom,” Nagaraju added. “And despite all these unusual things, they’re saying good things.

“We did a great job preparing them and I’m pretty sure they can easily overcome and meet any challenge that they face in their careers because they experienced a lot here and are not afraid to take risks. One of the greatest things any educational institution can impart to students is to take away their fear of failure. They came here, they were not afraid to come to a non-accredited school. We prepared them well. They can take risks.”

In addition, Nieman said that “when we have students who have walked the academic gauntlet, the results also speak to the fact that they believe they made the right choice professionally, that the profession is one they value, that they’re glad they’re entering into. This school and its people prepared them for that.”

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