School of Pharmacy students and residents benefit from “high performing” medical center.
Edited by Stephen Vodhanel, PhD
Recently, U.S. News and World Report released its 2011-12 Best Hospitals rankings, and Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) was ranked #1 among hospitals surveyed in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Of the 42 hospitals in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, serving an area with a population of more than four million people, LLUMC received the top spot in the 2011-12 rankings with 10 “high performing” specialties. These specialties are cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, ear, nose and throat, gastroenterology, gynecology, nephrology, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology.
The Loma Linda School of Pharmacy (LLUSP) is able to offer what dean Billy Hughes, PhD, calls “teachable moments” to students and pharmacy residents by having a close working relationship with the medical center’s department of pharmacy. From on the school (literally across the street), students and pharmacy residents are able to experience many pharmaceutical requirements of patients from across the medical spectrum, and within a high-ranking medical center exhibiting nationally ranked medical expertise.
For student Coralee Johnson, class of 2012, having a school of pharmacy in a medical teaching institution with a medical center was paramount in her decision to apply for admission at LLUSP. Ms. Johnson is currently on rotation working under Dr. Norm Hamada, assistant director of the LLUMC department of pharmacy.
Carl Dominguez, Pharm.D., pharmacy residency coordinator and assistant professor, adds that for the prospective resident pharmacist, LLUMC having ten specialties ranks us right there with Johns Hopkins and Stanford pharmacy residency programs. "LLUMC has a lot to offer any prospective residency candidate, and we are very proud of this fact," said Dr. Dominguez.
Pictured below: LLUMC