News
Pharmacy Students To Gain State-of-the-Art Davidson Practice Lab
CONTACT: Tory Olson, 515-271-1834, tory.olson@drake.edu
| Drake University Trustee Don Davidson is making a $300,000 gift to renovate the Donald F. Davidson Pharmacy Practice Laboratory in Fitch Hall.
Davidson's gift will revamp the lab that was originally established in his honor in 1997. It will provide students in Drake's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences with the most up-to-date resources to master their laboratory skills before entering the work force.
"This gift will transform the college's Pharmacy Practice Laboratory into an exceptional learning environment for students to develop skills through interaction with the latest dispensing and patient care technology," said Raylene Rospond, dean of the college.
Plans for the renovation will change the space to better resemble a pharmacy practice setting. The renovated lab will also allow students in different levels of the pharmacy program to share a common laboratory and collaborate, no matter their experience or expertise. The lab is scheduled to be completed by spring 2009.
Renovation plans include: - Expansion of laboratory space.
- Replacement of lab benches with eight mobile individual work units for drug dispensing, patient counseling and assessment.
- Creation of space for drug distribution system examples found in long-term care and hospital pharmacy settings.
- Installation of new audiovisual technology, making the lab a true electronic classroom.
- Development of an over-the-counter product laboratory space.
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Donald F. Davidson
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| The updated lab will help the college continue to meet the evolving standards set by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education for the education of pharmacists, providing students with the opportunity to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the laboratory experience.
"It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to make this gift possible," said Davidson, a resident of Laguna Niguel, Calif. "Pharmacy education at Drake is outstanding and ranks among the best anywhere in the United States. I am confident the renovated Pharmacy Practice Laboratory will allow our students to excel in this critical and practical part of their education." A longtime Drake benefactor and member of the Board of Trustees since 2003, Davidson graduated from Drake in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in pharmacy. After graduation, he practiced community pharmacy in Illinois and then served in the Army as a hospital pharmacist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. In 1955 Davidson launched a distinguished 32-year career with Abbott Laboratories, where he excelled in numerous positions in sales and marketing and as director of field sales for the Hospital Products Division. While working full-time at Abbott, Davidson earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business Executive Program.
He has received many honors, including Drake's Alumni Loyalty Award, the Alumni Achievement Award from the college and the Lawrence C. and Delores M. Weaver Medal of Honor. Davidson chaired the Drake President's Circle for two years and has been a member of the National Advisory Council for the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences for several years. | |
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