No abstract

The Purdue University College of Pharmacy established the Center for Health Equity and Innovation (CHEqI) to provide students, faculty, and internal and external partners with a coordinating center whose primary purpose is to address inequities in the social determinants of health. Through this article the development of the center, the interdisciplinary activities the center is currently engaged in, ongoing educational efforts to provide instruction related to equity, and research endeavors designed to better understand the impact of our efforts are described. Pharmacists and colleges/ schools of pharmacy must optimize health equity efforts with interdisciplinary partners by: (1) providing student opportunities to learn about diverse populations through engagement and integration with communities, (2) encouraging students to identify and lead health equity initiatives, (3) incorporating health equity engagement and track impact of efforts designed to address inequity into annual review and promotion processes, (4) creating and participating in health equity training opportunities, and (5) developing a formal structure for collaborative networks to align health equity efforts. These five strategies and examples are not intended to be prescriptive, but rather, an opportunity to synergize and cultivate further discussion of work in health equity across colleges/schools of pharmacy.

Health disparities exist globally in high‐income and low‐ and middle‐income countries. They are driven by social determinants of health (SDOH). While a role for pharmacists in addressing SDOH exists, a lack of structured postgraduate training limits pharmacists from being equipped to build innovative programs and contribute to health policy on SDOH in an impactful way. Postgraduate training, specifically, fellowships provides opportunities for pharmacists to develop the needed skills for working with SDOH. The Purdue University College of Pharmacy (PUCOP)‐United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Global Health Equity Fellowship was developed to meet this training need. This 2‐y fellowship represents a partnership between USAID and PUCOP. During the fellowship, time is split between USAID in Washington DC, PUCOP in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Purdue Kenya Partnership (PKP) in Eldoret, Kenya. The fellowship was developed with a foundation of core values, the creation of a logic model, strategic partnerships, maintaining an adaptable structure, and intentional partner communication. Fellow outcomes were evaluated in three categories: engagement, education, and scholarship. Fellows completed 10 experiential opportunities between three sites and participated in the development of new and supported ongoing care programs and policy implementation in both local and international settings. Fellows completed the following educational outcomes: completed an online Master of Public Health (MPH) through Purdue Global, provided 13 educational presentations and lectures at various sites, and precepted a total of 12 PUCOP advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) students and 16 Kenyan pharmacy interns and Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) students. Fellows completed three publications and two abstracts at international conferences. This established training model provides pharmacists with a structured path to gain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be leaders in addressing Global Health Equity.