Select a Stop
The best way to experience the Samford spirit is to meet our people and walk our campus. While you might not be able to visit campus in person, we want to give you an idea of what to expect when you are able to visit. To get started, choose a tour stop from the map or the menu below.
Established in 1927, Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy has been preparing pharmacists who transform lives for more than 90 years, and today, the school continues to build on its rich and storied history. In 2016, McWhorter School of Pharmacy moved into the College of Health Sciences facilities on the east side of Samford’s campus. These facilities are home to Samford’s four health-related schools, including the School of Health Professions, Ida Moffett School of Nursing and School of Public Health. Together, they provide students and faculty with the opportunity to learn and work in an interprofessional environment that mirrors today’s team-based approach to health care delivery.
Learn more about our College of Health Sciences facilities.
The College of Health Sciences facilities provide numerous classrooms of varying sizes. One of our two large lecture halls, CHS 1222, is the primary classroom for second-year pharmacy students. Due to its larger size, there are multiple display monitors throughout the room, allowing students to clearly see the lecture notes. Built in cameras and microphones make it so lectures can be recorded, giving students the opportunity to review a past lecture or watch ones they’ve missed. Our small and medium-sized classrooms are great for group meetings. All classrooms are equipped with Solstice, a wireless presentation and collaboration software. Users are able to project their device to the screen in the classroom for group work, practicing presentation or group studying.
Whether you need a place to take a break between classes or a gathering space for group meetings or studying sessions, the College of Health Sciences has numerous patios, study spaces and common areas throughout its facilities. In addition, students can take advantage of our walking trials, open seating areas and group study areas. All of our conference rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art conferencing technology that allow students and faculty to conduct face-to-face and distance meetings and presentations.
Located on the third floor of Building One, Samford’s Experiential Learning and Simulation Center spans 22,000 sq. feet and utilizes the most sophisticated technology available to provide students a safe yet realistic environment to develop their clinical skills. The center even includes an electronic health record system that mirrors the systems found in today’s health care settings. Pharmacy students use a number of spaces found within the center, including the Skill and Assessment Labs, Home Care Lab and others.
Learn more about our Experiential Learning and Simulation Center.Within the Experiential Learning and Simulation Center, you will find our compounding labs. In the non-sterile compounding lab, students learn how to make various dosage forms such as capsules, lozenges and creams, which are a part of our standard curriculum. In addition, our sterile compounding lab is designed for students to practice working with intravenous drugs and their delivery systems. This lab consists of 10 hoods that are each equipped with an overhead camera that allows students to re-watch their sterile compounding technique and for professors to evaluate and provide feedback.
In our standardized patient exam suite, which consists of 10 individual rooms, students are able to practice patient counseling skills with our standardized patients, or professionals trained to act out symptoms and reactions. Students are able to enter the room, introduce themselves as the pharmacist, and begin counseling the patient on a new prescription or reviewing their list of current medications.
This suite includes four high-fidelity simulation labs that contain high-fidelity mannikins, which display life-like qualities such as blinking and respiration chest movements. Different mannikins, representing different types of patients, can be used depending on the scenario, including adult, pediatric, and obstetric. Each simulation lab is paired with a debriefing room where faculty and students gather following a simulation to discuss and provide feedback.
On the fourth floor of Building One, CHS 1409 is the second of our two large lecture halls, and it is the primary classroom for first- and third-year Doctor of Pharmacy students. Like CHS 1222, this classroom has multiple display monitors as well as microphones and cameras for recording lectures. Right outside this classroom is the Dunlap Family Student Commons where you will often find students taking a break or using one of the facilities WEPA printers, which allows students to upload documents to print.
Surrounded by the faculty and staff offices for the school’s Department of Pharmacy Practice, our S.A.M. Suite is a space designated for scholarship, academics and mentoring. Students and faculty can reserve the room for a variety of needs, including group meetings, practice presentations, research, studying and more.
Our Atrium is a beautiful focal point within the College of Health Sciences. Students use this space to enjoy lunch, study or simply hang out with friends. Along with the waterfall and numerous outdoor patio spaces, the Atrium also offers Freshens and Starbucks. Freshens’ menu offers healthy meal options, including various wraps, salads and rice bowls.
As you enter the top floor of Building Two, where you can find the faculty and staff offices for the school’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, you are greeted by our Pharmacy History Gallery. Through multiple displays, visitors can learn about the school’s more than 90-year history. Interactive tablets allow you to view composites and alumni spotlights, and the wall lists the school’s former deans and Bowl of Hygeia winners. (The Bowl of Hygeia is one of the most prestigious awards a pharmacist can receive.)
Just down the hall from our history gallery, you will find our Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Lab. In this dynamic space, students have the opportunity to be involved with various research projects with faculty. Many of the ongoing research projects focus on drug design, drug delivery, cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer’s disease and herbal interactions with drugs—among others. Along with a lab for students, Samford’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Institute is housed here and contracts many research projects with hospitals around the Birmingham area, including Children’s of Alabama.
Learn more about opportunities available for student research.
