Community Engagement
Building stronger communities, delivering healthier futures
We are dedicated to building strong community connections through active engagement and outreach. Our programs are designed to work with the communities we serve to meet their health needs, promote wellness and develop a future workforce to advance health care and contribute to the community's well-being.
Community Impact
Our Pharm.D. students actively serve in community settings by providing essential health services, conducting wellness screenings and delivering patient education. These hands-on experiences cultivate skills that help them become effective pharmacists, bridge gaps in care and offer the community the resources needed to understand health conditions, manage treatments and make informed decisions about care.
Contact Evan Sisson, Pharm.D., at emsisson@vcu.edu to get involved in our outreach opportunities.
Outreach Opportunities
Established in 1983, CrossOver Healthcare Ministry is Virginia’s largest free health clinic, offering a range of services to the medically underserved and uninsured, including primary, specialty, dental and vision care. In 2008, VCU School of Pharmacy partnered with CrossOver to create a pharmacist-integrated primary care model to improve chronic disease outcomes through medication management. Our students on fourth-year rotations and PGY-2 ambulatory care residency trainees obtain their longitudinal learning experiences in the pharmacy-based clinics at the nonprofit’s two locations.
Since 1969, Daily Planet Health Services has been a key provider for Richmond's homeless, offering medical, mental health, vision, dental and case management services to more than 7,000 patients annually. Our partnership began in 2005, focusing on medication education for behavioral health patients through community pharmacy residents. By 2008, we expanded services to include medication therapy management and joined the HRSA’s Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative. This collaboration, recognized with national awards for health outcomes and patient safety, has led to research funded by the NIH, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and the VCU Council for Community Engagement.
Dominion Place is an apartment complex for low-income seniors, many of whom face health challenges due to chronic diseases and limited resources. Since 2012, VCU health sciences schools have offered an on-site clinic aimed at improving access to wellness services. Third- and fourth-year Pharm.D. students gain valuable experience in geriatric care, working collaboratively with students from nursing, medicine and social work to provide health screenings and counseling on diabetes, hypertension and medication management.
Located next to the VCU Health Hub at 25th, Hope Pharmacy is a full-service pharmacy offering affordable products and services to meet the needs of low-to-middle-income residents of Richmond's Church Hill and East End neighborhoods. Our students and faculty from the Center for Pharmacy Practice Innovation work with Hope Pharmacy to provide blood pressure monitoring and study how pharmacists can help manage hypertension.
Sponsored and led by the Virginia Dental Foundation Association since 2009, Mission of Mercy offers free dental care and medical screenings to uninsured patients across Virginia. Using an interdisciplinary model, these events serve 400 to 600 patients, with our pharmacy students providing medication counseling to those undergoing dental procedures.
Moments of Hope Outreach assists those experiencing homelessness in Richmond and the surrounding counties of Caroline, Hanover, Henrico and King William. In addition to providing emergency shelter and operating a food distribution center, the nonprofit offers free health screenings at community outreach luncheons. Our pharmacy students work with health care professionals to offer blood pressure and glucose screenings and answer questions about medications and health issues.
Remote Area Medical (RAM) operates free mobile clinics providing dental, medical and vision services both in the U.S. and abroad. Since 2007, VCU has partnered with RAM to host pop-up health care events across Virginia to serve thousands of patients annually and offer valuable learning experiences for our students. Each year, student pharmacists work with peers from the VCU Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing to collect medical histories, take blood pressure and glucose readings, screen for diabetes and high cholesterol, and offer medication counseling.
Community-Based Pharmacy Practice and Research
The VCU School of Pharmacy has led the way in advancing community-based pharmacy practice since 1995, being among the first to place faculty in community pharmacies to develop patient care services and launch a multi-site community-based pharmacy residency program. Our faculty are recognized nationally and internationally for their expertise in community pharmacy practice and innovative patient care. Many of our student pharmacists pursue careers in community-based pharmacy, inspired by our faculty who are role models in this field.
Who We Are
These efforts are led by faculty in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science. Community-based pharmacy practice faculty members are extensively involved with school, university, professional organizations and community service.
Contact Jean-Venable "Kelly" R. Goode, Pharm.D., at jrgoode@vcu.edu for questions about community-based pharmacy practice and research.
What We Do
We engage students through Pharm.D. and graduate-level courses, offer residencies and fellowships focused on community pharmacy practice, provide services to our community and develop the innovative patient-care strategies that providers put into practice across the country and around the world. From education to research to patient care, we are developing the next generation of community-based pharmacists who are prepared to better serve the needs of all patients.
The community-based pharmacy practice faculty members teach students skills, such as compounding, communicating with patients and delivering pharmacy-based immunization, in a variety of courses. The community pharmacy practice faculty members precept Pharm.D. students, PGY1 community-based pharmacy practice residents and PGY2 ambulatory care residents.
Clinical Service
Community pharmacy practice faculty are innovators and leaders in developing patient care services in the community pharmacy setting. The faculty practice in a variety of chain pharmacy settings. We maintain active partnerships with Bremo Pharmacy, Buford Road Pharmacy, Crossover Healthcare Ministry, Daily Planet Health Services, Kroger Health and VCU Health.
Scholarship
Scholarly activities for community-based pharmacy practice focus in two primary areas: practice-based research and teaching. Faculty working in this area established a Community Pharmacy Practice-Based Research Network to advance and support these scholarly efforts.
In 2024, VCU School of Pharmacy was named an inaugural Academia-Community Transformation Pharmacy Collaborative Community Pharmacy Center of Excellence by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
Several programs, centers and initiatives within our school contribute to our holistic approach to strengthening the practice of community-based pharmacy nationwide, including our:
- PGY1 Community-Based Pharmacy Practice Residency
- PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residency
- VCU Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow Program
- Center for Pharmacy Practice Innovation
- Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan Initiative through VCU’s Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry and Innovation
- Geriatric Pharmacotherapy Program