The Fresno Area Program began in 2001. The first class (class of 2002-2003) of six, 4th year pharmacy students completed their Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs or rotations) in June 2003. The program's goal is to provide APPEs for sixteen, 3rd/4th year students annually. The great diversity of the Central Valley affords students endless opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills of culturally appropriate patient-centered pharmaceutical care in a variety of practice settings. Currently, acute care APPEs are available at Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC), Community Medical Center in Clovis (CMC-Clovis), Children's Hospital Central California, Kaiser Permanente, and the VA Central California Health Care System. Ambulatory care APPEs are available at Kaiser Permanente, Community Medical Centers, Sequoia Community Health Foundation Clinics, and Children's Hospital Central California. Community pharmacy practice rotations are available at a variety of out-patient and community settings. Elective APPEs are available at a variety of sites and settings, including management and administration in a variety of settings, hospital information technology services, home health care, compounding pharmacy, consulting pharmacy, poison control, and a traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM ) clinic and pharmacy. Graduates of the Fresno site consistently rank it high for the quality, depth and diversity of rotations offered, the high quality of precepting, its flexibility with regard to rotation scheduling, and the numerous networking opportunities provided.

In addition to providing UCSF pharmacy students with an APPE training site or satellite program, the Fresno Pharmacy Education Program reaches out to educate junior high, high school, and college students about the profession and offer prospective pharmacists opportunities to experience pharmacy in different practice settings. The School's first Early Conditional Admission Program (ECAP), which targets graduating high school students planning to pursue a career in pharmacy, is also based in Fresno.

For more information about the Fresno APPE program and/or its outreach activities, contact the Program Director, Mitra Assemi, Pharm.D.