A formalized teaching, practice, and research partnership with the Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System: a model for advancing academic partnerships.

In 1999, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy expanded its Dallas/Fort Worth presence by creating a regional campus for pharmacy students in their third and fourth years (P3 and P4 years) of the program. This expansion was driven by the need for additional practice sites. The VANTHCS was an obvious choice for the school due to the similarity of missions for clinical practice, education, and research. The VANTHCS and pharmacy school renovated a 4,000 square foot building, which includes classrooms, conference rooms, a student lounge, and faculty offices (expanded to 8,000 square feet in 2003). To date, the school has invested $1 million in the building. From a practice perspective, VANTHCS purchases faculty professional services from the school to augment its clinical specialist staff. These professional practice contracts provide VANTHCS with 12 additional clinical pharmacy specialists serving 50% of their time in multiple specialty areas. The collaboration has also allowed for expansion of clinical teaching, benefitting both institutions. In addition to the pharmacy student interns on P3 and P4 practice experiences, the collaboration allows for 8 to 10 postgraduate pharmacy residents to train with VANTHCS clinical specialists and school faculty members each year. The VANTHCS/pharmacy school collaboration has clearly enhanced the ability of both institutions to exceed their teaching, research, and practice goals in a cost-effective manner.