Cedarville University to open pharmacy school

Cedarville University, in southwestern Ohio, is moving forward with plans for its pharmacy school, which will begin enrolling students next fall, and has appointed Marc A. Sweeney as the founding dean. Building on Cedarville’s strength in the health sciences, Sweeney will lead the development of a Christ-centered pharmacy program that includes a department of pharmaceutical sciences and a department of pharmacy practice.

The school is planning a freestanding building to house the school, which will cost up to $20 million to build, as The Dayton Business Journal reported last summer. Officials said recently they expect the building to be completed within three years, in time for the first class of students to finish their three years of pre-pharmacy studies and enter the four-year professional program, which will award a doctorate.

Cedarville is recruiting 25 faculty, support staff, and administrative staff for the school. At maturity, the pharmacy school will include a dean, an assistant dean, two department chairs, and 25 faculty members. Undergraduate pre-pharmacy enrollment began this past fall. The first class is expected to contain about 40 students, Cedarville President William Brown said.

Sweeney is among the first hires for the new school of pharmacy. Sweeney comes to Cedarville from The University of Findlay, where he most recently served as an associate professor and chair of pharmacy practice. He was part of the leadership team that began The University of Findlay’s School of Pharmacy.

In addition, Sweeney has participated in numerous professional endeavors, most notably serving on the boards of trustees for the Ohio Pharmacists Association and the Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education. He is also a current member of the board of directors for the Ohio chapter of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists.

Sweeney received his bachelor of science in pharmacy from Ohio Northern University and his doctor of pharmacy from The Ohio State University. He also completed an academic leadership fellowship at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and earned a master of divinity degree from Southwest Bible College and Seminary. “Dr. Sweeney will help us create a vibrant program,” Brown said.“One that will competently equip individuals to bring their biblical and moral convictions to the complicated issues of the pharmaceutical profession.”

Cedarville’s pharmacy program will be the the first in the region and the one in closest proximity to Dayton. Other pharmacy programs exist at Ohio State University and University of Cincinnati. So the demand is partly what drove the university to look into beginning the program. “We’re excited to be able to fill that need,” Brown said. “There’s a new generation of pharmacy emerging, and we’re excited to see pharmacy taking the lead.”

Sweeney said the school will work to train pharmacists more as health coaches as part of a continuum of care, working with patients to make sure they are following doctors’ orders and taking medicine properly.