Youmans appointed vice dean of UCSF School of Pharmacy

Sharon L. Youmans, PharmD, MPH, a pharmacist and educator with a deep commitment to pharmacy education and public health, has been appointed vice dean of the UCSF School of Pharmacy. Her appointment was effective July 1, 2013.

Youmans is a faculty member in the School’s Department of Clinical Pharmacy, where she previously served as vice chair of educational affairs. She also served the School as associate dean of diversity immediately before assuming the role of vice dean.

“Our growing agenda calls for a vice dean, one who can help carry forward both the School’s broad plans and a targeted portfolio. Sharon is just the person. She is an accomplished, well-respected School and campus leader with a passion to go beyond the status quo,” noted School of Pharmacy Dean B. Joseph Guglielmo, PharmD.

Youmans has long been involved in the ongoing improvement of PharmD education, including the revision of pharmacy practice course experiences and the addition of cultural competence training. She also participated in the campus’ interprofessional education task force. “One of her immediate aims is, in close collaboration with the faculty, to revolutionize our professional curriculum as we continue to distinguish our pharmacy students,” Dean Guglielmo said.

A longstanding focus of her career has been the development of new and innovative ways that pharmacists can provide health education and related services in the community. As a School faculty member, she provided pharmacy services to San Francisco residents through Glide Health Services (a nurse-managed primary care clinic committed to the homeless and uninsured), concentrating on medication management and adherence strategies for patients.

In the global community, Youmans has worked on curriculum reform with faculty members at the pharmacy school of Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania. She is also part of a research team learning how best to communicate health information about HIV/AIDS prevention to the people of Malawi, working with village spiritual leaders.

In her new role, Vice Dean Youmans leads all aspects of School administration in the absence of the dean and represents the dean to audiences important to the School’s success, from staff to prospective donors. Along with overseeing an evolving agenda of priority School projects, her ongoing portfolio includes education and diversity. She ensures the excellence, success, and continuing development of the School’s academic programs, in particular the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program. All associate deans involved with education report to the vice dean. In addition, she ensures the success of programs intended to strengthen the School’s diversity and its culture of understanding, inclusion, equity, and respect.

Youmans earned a PharmD degree from UCSF in 1985 and an MPH degree from San Jose State University in 2005. She completed a pharmacy practice residency at California Pacific Medical Center in 1986 and joined the UCSF School of Pharmacy faculty in 2001.

Tags

Category:
Sites:
School of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, PharmD Degree Program

About the School: The UCSF School of Pharmacy aims to solve the most pressing health care problems and strives to ensure that each patient receives the safest, most effective treatments. Our discoveries seed the development of novel therapies, and our researchers consistently lead the nation in NIH funding. The School’s doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree program, with its unique emphasis on scientific thinking, prepares students to be critical thinkers and leaders in their field.