Dr. Barbara Wells interview
MP: Looking back over your experience at the School of Pharmacy, which accomplishments or experiences stand out in your mind?
Wells: I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of our faculty, research scientists, administrators, staff, students, alumni and partners. Some of the most notable accomplishments that we have all brought to fruition by working together for common goals include:
• I am extremely proud of the many accomplishments of our students. So many of our professional and graduate students, residents, and fellows develop into leaders and change agents. Our Pharm.D. graduates have one of the highest pass rates on the national licensure exam in the nation. In three of the past six years, 100% of our Pharm.D. graduates passed the exam on their first try.
• Our Distinguished Teaching Scholars Program allows us to recognize and reward some of our most outstanding faculty. These stellar educators are selected by a large committee of their peers, and they serve three-year terms as Distinguished Teaching Scholars. Their fellow faculty see them as mentors and role-models for excellence in teaching.
• I am extremely proud that so many of our faculty have developed into national leaders within their professional and scientific associations, thus advancing the mission of these organizations, strengthening their disciplines, bringing recognition to the university, and ultimately improving the health of citizens of the world.
• Three times in the last decade the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy has ranked the School of Pharmacy No. 1 among all U.S. schools of pharmacy for total external funding. Our external funding, now at nearly $30 million annually, almost doubled in the past 10 years. Our current ranking among all pharmacy schools for NIH funding is No. 5.
• The pharmacy school received a $13.9 million NIH grant for construction of the $31.7 million research building. This is the largest competitive grant ever to come to the School, and it will allow us to build a second research building for the National Center for Natural Products Research. When this building is completed, we will have 357,291 gsf of space to support our academic and research missions. This will include the new building in Jackson and the new Maynard Quimby Medicinal Plant Garden.
• In January we will move into our new 29,500 gsf building on the medical center campus in Jackson. Although our Department of Pharmacy Practice has been based in Jackson since the early 70’s, this will be the first time we have ever had permanently assigned academic and research space there. This new building will meet the needs of students and faculty and will bring us into compliance with the new accreditation standards for facilities.
• In 2008, our new 250-seat auditorium on the Oxford campus was completed. It provides state-of-the-art space for teaching and videoconferencing.
• The pharmacy school became one of the NIH’s Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence when NIH provided greater than $11 million to create the Center of Research Excellence in Natural Products Neuroscience.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration chose the National Center for Natural Products Research as a Center of Excellence for research on botanical dietary supplements.
MP: Has the role of dean been different from your expectations? Have there been challenges that you didn’t anticipate?
Wells: I had been a dean before I came to Ole Miss, so I knew what being a dean was about. But in any position, there are always challenges (and opportunities) that simply could not have been anticipated. I have been blessed to work with a team of gifted faculty, scientists, university administrators, school leaders, staff members, students, alumni, and other partners who have enabled us to deal innovatively with the challenges and to create and capitalize on some remarkable opportunities along the way.
MP: What are your plans to do after retiring?
Wells: Richard and I are looking forward to spending a lot more time with family, especially our two children and four grandchildren. I am looking forward to playing the piano again and to having time to read a few best sellers and some old classics. I’m sure we’ll want to do a little traveling. I also plan to continue to work on the two therapeutics textbooks and one therapeutics handbook that I co-edit.
MP: What do you think you will miss most from your 10 years as the School of Pharmacy Dean?
Wells: I will miss the enthusiasm, optimism, inquisitiveness, and determination of the professional and graduate students and residents. They have such great promise to advance our profession and to improve health and our health care system. I will miss the day to day interactions with colleagues that I admire so much. We all work very hard, but we also manage to have some fun. I’ll miss the opportunity to mentor faculty members, but of course, I will follow their future successes with great pride. I will miss interacting with amazing alumni. They are selfless and genuinely committed to our students’ success.
MP: What are some things you are most excited about for the next dean, Dr. Allen?
Wells: I have complete confidence that Dr. David D. Allen will work with the faculty, staff, students, and alumni to take the school to the next level in teaching, research, and service. He is an experienced dean and academic leader who is very highly regarded in pharmacy education. I know David will begin immediately to develop the shared vision and make sure everyone is on the same page. The future of the School of Pharmacy is very bright under his leadership, and I will be proudly following the school’s successes.
MP: What challenges do you think you we as a profession of pharmacy will face in the next 5 years?
Wells: The one thing we can be certain of is that there will always be change, and that there will always be plenty of challenges. There will always be those who would commoditize our profession. There will always be interests who would deny us a level playing field and fair access to patients and the professional roles that we are prepared to assume. There will always be those who would deny us fair compensation for our services. The challenges for all healthcare professions are very similar. We must help all pharmacists see that their professional future depends on their willingness to be part of the change equation. We have a lot of control over our destinies if we reject the status quo and step up, join our professional associations, and work to develop and deliver the advocacy agenda. We must be certain that we define our new and evolving roles, and that we are superbly prepared, qualified, and credentialed to assume those roles. Whatever new directions we chart for ourselves, it must always be justified based on what is best for patients. There will be many new opportunities in collaborative practice, but we will need to have the fortitude to experiment and to prove our value to patients and to the health care system in those roles and novel settings.
MP: Do you and your husband, Richard, have any trips or vacations planned?
Wells: We have no trips planned for the immediate future other than visiting our children in Atlanta and Arkansas. But I’m sure in the not too distant future, we’ll want to spend some time in the American west. We love the west, especially Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. San Diego and Tucson aren’t too shabby either. We have friends in every major city (and lots of small towns) in the country. So much to do – so little time.