The Division of Economic, Social and Administrative Pharmacy (ESAP)

The mission of the ESAP graduate program is to improve the quality of life for all individuals by promoting health and disease prevention. Through its contributions to research, education, and public service, the ESAP graduate program embraces the mission of the FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Our graduates play an active role in shaping the direction of pharmacy and health care through academia, industry, community and institutional pharmacy management, and government.

The Division of Economic, Social and Administrative Pharmacy (ESAP) train graduate students in the area of Pharmacoeconomics (Pharmacy Administration). The master's of science program in Pharmacoeconomics provides graduate students the skills needed to work in the innovative field of comparative effectiveness. "Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is the generation and synthesis of evidence that compares the benefits and harms of alternative methods to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor a clinical condition or to improve the delivery of care. The purpose of CER is to assist consumers, clinicians, purchasers, and policy makers to make informed decisions that will improve health care at both at the individual and population levels" (Institute of Medicine, 2009). Students will develop competencies in the methods of comparative effectiveness relevant to pharmacoeconomics, health outcomes and patient behavior and will develop, conduct and report original research in comparative effectiveness.

The Master of Science program offers specialization in

• Health Outcomes Research - applies clinical, economic and humanistic approaches to study the cost, outcomes and consequences of medication use.
• Patient Behavior Research - applies socio-behavioral and health communication theories to study patient health behavior.

Graduates of the ESAP program will be able to

• Design, conduct and publish research related to health care based upon solid training in research methodology and data analysis, grounding in health outcomes or patient behavioral theories, understanding of the health care system, and concern for the appropriate provision of quality pharmaceutical and/or medical services;
• Serve as knowledgeable, effective educators in academia and to the public on health care research and policy issues,
• Collaborate with other researchers and policy makers on health care research.