Project Chance Photos

Project CHANCE (Chapters Helping Advocate for Needy Communities Everywhere) is sponsored by the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) in collaboration with the Pharmacy Services Support Center (PSSC) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Formerly known as the APhA-ASP/PSSC Awards Program, the program will be re-launched in August of 2007 as Project CHANCE in order to encourage more participation by chapters.

Originally created in 2002, the program awards upto ten APhA-ASP Chapters a $2,000 stipend for outstanding proposals for a project that promotes delivery of comprehensive pharmacy services within a 340B-eligible entity. Through their collaborative efforts, APhA-ASP is working to promote the mission of HRSA: to improve and expand access to quality health care for all Americans. By providing services within a 340B-eligible entity, student pharmacists will be working to guarantee the availability of quality health care to low income, uninsured, isolated, and special needs populations.

The ULM Chapter of APhA-ASP was awarded one of eight Project CHANCE awards at the APhA 2007 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta, GA. "Impact of Student Pharmacists on Screening Patients for Peripheral Arterial Disease" is a joint program between our chapter and the Family Medicine Department at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-E.A. Conway Medical Center in Monroe, LA. Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a condition that is associated with a fivefold risk of death from heart attack or stroke. Eight to twelve million people in the United States are living with this condition, with nearly 75% of them being undiagnosed. Most of those affected have never even heard of the condition nor understand its importance. The primary goal of this project is to screen patients at risk for PAD in order to aid in early diagnosis of the disease and to decrease the appearance of symptoms. The value of the pharmacist which will be demonstrated through our project and others like it will make other health care professionals more aware of the impact pharmacists can have as part of a multidisciplinary team.

This webpage was created to provide pharmacists, student pharmacists, and patients information about the project, as well as valuable resources about PAD. In addition, many of the screening tools, implementation plans, and publicity reporting guidelines constructed by our chapter are posted, allowing students at other APhA-ASP chapters to access information that may aid them in incorporating PAD screenings into their communities.

Please check back throughout the fall 2007 semester for updates. For more information, please contact our Project Coordinator, Catherine Oliver.

Reference Resources