Analyzing Alumni Trends for a New Pharmacy School: A Decade of Impact on Pharmacy Practice and Leadership

Purpose: Describe the professional outcomes of PCOM-Georgia pharmacy alumni by analyzing their practice areas, leadership roles, postgraduate education, and ongoing connection with the institution as preceptors. Methods: A descriptive analysis was conducted for all pharmacy graduates from PCOM-Georgia between 2014 and 2023. Data was collected from publicly available sources (e.g., social media, state board websites) and missing data is currently being examined with the help of the alumni office. Graduates were evaluated based on their current employment, practice roles, licensure, geographic distribution, additional certifications, leadership positions, and preceptorship status. Results: PCOM Georgia graduated a total of 855 students in its first 10 years. Of those, publicly available data was collected for 555 graduates. Overall, 69% of PCOM Georgia pharmacy alumni practice in Georgia. The institution's gender breakdown of 41.8% male and 58.2% female overall aligns very similarly with national averages. Graduates are in diverse career paths, with 50.9% in community pharmacy, 21.5% in hospital pharmacy, 3.8% in the pharmaceutical industry and 23% in other specialized fields like nuclear pharmacy, consulting and academia. There were 27.9% of graduates in leadership roles and 1.4 % have changed practice areas during their career. Conclusion: Understanding the impact of a new pharmacy program provided valuable insights into the professional outcomes and geographical distribution of graduates so that the program can assess its contribution to addressing healthcare needs. In alignment with the mission of PCOM-Georgia, which focuses on educating health professionals to care for the whole person and advance the health of diverse communities, alumni have helped shaped and continue to shape healthcare in Georgia in a variety of practice areas and leadership roles.