USciences’ Mayes College of Healthcare Business and Policy has begun to incorporate a year-long theme into its culture through classroom work, events, speakers, and student activities: Hepatitis.
“Given that Mayes College is a conglomeration of people in health policy, public health, pharmaceutical business, and communication, we felt a unifying theme that focused on a common topic would present a more cohesive learning and teaching environment,” said Dr. Andrew Peterson, Mayes College dean.
Hepatitis encompasses many of the areas represented by Mayes College and has broad implications. Among those are educating citizens on the prevention of the various forms of the disease, influencing policy related to access and cost of prevention and treatment, marketing treatments to professionals and the public, and the communication of relevant information to patients, payers and health professionals.
The college already has a built in resource with its association to the Hepatitis Treatment, Research and Education Center (HepTREC), an education, research, and service center that is housed within Mayes College (http://www.heptrec.org/).
“Thanks to AstraZeneca, we have funds typically ear-marked for an annual panel discussion that we can spread out over this endeavor,” said Dr. Peterson. “In this way, we can go beyond a single event and still have a culminating panel discussion.”
As part of the fall semester Product Management course, teams of students worked with client companies/organizations to prepare marketing plans. Students in two teams worked with HepTREC and the Hepatitis B Foundation.
While the hepatitis theme will take root formally in the spring semester, Dr. Peterson said the college is already planning for next year’s theme.