UH Hilo adds Australia to list of countries with formal collaborative ties

Student pharmacists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) are now able to formally expand their educational experiences to the Land Down Under following an agreement with an educational partner in Australia.

UH Hilo has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Blackmores Institute, an academic and research organization headquartered in the northern Sydney suburb of Warriewood, New South Wales.

“We are excited to partner with Blackmores Institute,” said DKICP Dean Carolyn Ma. “This MOU signifies our commitment to giving our students the most competitive education possible while fulfilling our mission to establish a global identity.”

The agreement establishes a program called the “U.S. BI Student Pharmacist Intern Program” that promotes the exchange of international experiences. Students will have the opportunity to get credit through elective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience courses, which all fourth-year students in the professional program must take before obtaining a Pharm.D.

“Blackmores Institute’s focus on advancing the knowledge and research on complementary medicine dovetails nicely with our own emphasis on natural products,” said Ma.

Blackmores Institute, with regional offices in Singapore and Malaysia, is the academic and professional arm of Blackmores Limited, an Australian natural health company. In addition to UH Hilo, the Institute also collaborates with Taylor’s University in Malaysia and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia.

Leslie Braun, director of Blackmores Institute, said that DKICP’s student pharmacist intern program supports their commitment to developing and delivering education that translates evidence into practical skills relevant to contemporary pharmacy practice and patient-centered care.

“Blackmores Institute welcomes this new MOU with UH Hilo as an opportunity to work with a like-minded body in advancing the quality use of complementary medicine in pharmacy practice,” Braun said. “We look forward to a mutually rewarding and productive collaboration with the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy.”

Ma said she looks forward to the possibility of expanding research and clinical practice opportunities among mutual partners.

“We already have in common working relationships with universities in Thailand, such as Chulalongkorn and Rangsit Universities, so we have a good start at developing new and exciting possibilities in the field of natural products health care,” Ma noted.

The first DKICP student pharmacists will travel to Australia for a six-week advanced fourth-year rotation later this fall.