In this elective course, students spend two weeks in Portugal to identify best practices both there and in the U.S. to improve pharmacy practice and patient care.
Prior to the course, students learn about pharmacy regulations, associations, advocacy, and independent community settings in Minnesota and the United States so that they can compare and contrast with the systems in Portugal.
In Portugal, students visit numerous community pharmacies, a pharmaceutical company, a clinical laboratory, an oncology hospital and a cooperative wholesaling company. They also visit with Portuguese pharmacy students at the University of Lisbon, and meet with representatives from the National Association of Pharmacies, the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society, and Apifarma, an association that unifies pharmaceutical companies in Portugal.