The Rural Pharmacy Program
The Rural Pharmacy (RPHARM) program seeks to train pharmacists to practice in rural areas of the state of Illinois, who will, upon completion of pharmacy school, locate and practice in rural Illinois as pharmacists in these communities. The maldistribution of pharmacists in rural areas of the state has long been a problem for rural communities, and the RPHARM program directly seeks to help offset some of this shortage.
RPHARM, a core program of the National Center for Rural Health Professions, offers a community-based rural pharmacy curriculum. The first three years will be didactic with early practice experiences, followed by a series of six (6), six-week advance rotations conducted at sites in the Rockford area, as well as throughout Illinois. Students in this program train collaboratively with medical students from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford’s Rural Medicine (RMED) program to help prepare them to meet the health care needs of rural communities while working hand-in-hand for the best interests of their patients.
For more information about the RPHARM program, please contact the RPHARM office at 815.395.5661. For a detailed brochure on the program, please click here.