With five snips of golden scissors from HCC and TMC officials, a ceremonial ribbon fell to the floor and the HCC Coleman College for Health Sciences Pharmacy Technician Laboratory was officially opened. Even though classes had been held in the suite since January, final touches were completed April 1. The grand opening day also marked the one-year anniversary of HCC Coleman College’s new president, Dr. Betty Young.
Expanding from a 1,000 square-foot space in the HCC Coleman College building, to a 10,000 square-foot state-of-the-art educational suite on the John P. McGovern campus provided more than just larger labs and classroom opportunities.
“Our number one supporter has always been Dr. Wainerdi throughout this whole process of moving our program into the TMC building, but immediately following was our other TMC champion, Dr. Barbara Hayes, Dean of the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Texas Southern University,” said Young.
“She was with us from day one, collaborating not only on space and functional design, but also curriculum content, so our HCC Pharmacy Tech students are working side-by-side with TSU doctor of pharmacy students in our labs, just as they will after graduation in the real world.”
In addition to this retail lab, students also learn in a separate sterile compounding lab and a hospital pharmacy lab, learning unit dose packaging. The Pharmacy Technician suite also includes three classrooms, faculty offices, and a collaboration area that connects directly to the TSU TMC campus.
“This new lab gives our students an education unequalled at any other community college in the nation,” Young added, “No other school can offer the faculty, relevance or opportunities that HCC does with our TMC location and partnerships.” |
