The UT Health Science Center College of Pharmacy is one of the few pharmacy schools nationwide that offers students the chance to complete an Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) course with AHA provider certification.
Seven of our P3 students completed this elective course this year. It concludes with a Mega Code Skills Check-off, during which each student serves as a “Team Leader” conducting a code. The Memphis Fire Department also contributed to the course by providing an hour of instruction on ACLS from a paramedic’s perspective.
Pharmacists have been participating in code teams in hospital settings for decades, and the literature shows that having a pharmacist present can reduce medication errors and mortality. UTHSC COP offers both a didactic lecture to all P2 students and an elective in the P3 year, where students take part in an expanded version of the AHA ACLS provider course, culminating in a mega code simulation and skills check-off at the end of the month.
Upon successful completion of this mega code, students become certified as AHA ACLS providers. This is a unique opportunity for students interested in post-graduate training and/or working in a hospital or institutional setting where code teams respond to cardiac and respiratory arrests. UTHSC COP has offered this elective since 2006.
Congratulations to the seven students who are now AHA ACLS providers!