Walter L. Fitzgerald, Jr., BPharm, MS, JD
Pharmacy Fusion Radio Show HostWalter L. Fitzgerald, Jr. serves as Dean of the College of Pharmacy, and Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Administrative Sciences, at Idaho State University. He received the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 1979 from Mercer University School of Pharmacy in Atlanta. In 1982 he received the Master of Science in Pharmacy Administration from the University of Tennessee, College of Graduate Health Sciences, in Memphis. And in 1983 he received the Juris Doctor degree from the University of Memphis, School of Law.
Dr. Fitzgerald has nearly four decades of educating student pharmacists and pharmacists, as well as other health professions practitioners and students. The focus of his teaching and research is on healthcare law and ethics, research law and ethics, pharmacy and drug law, and risk management. He has presented many lectures at professional and scientific meetings and has authored numerous articles. He has authored four books, including The Pharmacist’s Guide to the Pharmacy and Drug Law of Tennessee, published by the Tennessee Pharmacists Association, and the HIPAA Compliance Handbook for Community Pharmacy, published by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). He also co-authored NCPA’s HIPAA Security Handbook for Community Pharmacy.
His professional career began in 1983 when he was appointed to the faculty of the University of Tennessee, College of Pharmacy. While appointed in the College of Pharmacy, his teaching extended to other health professions colleges. He also was a frequent continuing education program speaker for a variety of healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, physicians, advanced practice nurses, and physician assistants. His career at the University of Tennessee also provided several diverse experiences, such as serving as the project director for the retrospective drug utilization review program for TennCare, Tennessee’s managed care Medicaid program and General Counsel for the American College of Apothecaries. He has also served as a consultant to healthcare organizations, professional associations, and the pharmaceutical industry In 2005, he departed the University of Tennessee to become Founding Dean of the South College School of Pharmacy in Knoxville. As part of this role he supported the Provost/Executive Vice President with institutional preparation and regional accreditation necessary to founding of the School of Pharmacy.
During part of his time at South College he also was an adjunct faculty member teaching law and ethics at East Tennessee State University College of Pharmacy and Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy. After 13 years in this Deanship, in June 2019 Dr. Fitzgerald arrived in Pocatello, Idaho to begin his service to Idaho State University.
Dr. Fitzgerald has received many prestigious awards, including being the first recipient of the Albert B Prescott Pharmacy Leadership Award. He also received the University of Tennessee National Alumni Association Public Service Award, the Tennessee Pharmacist of the Year Award, and membership in the Academy of Distinguished Teaching Professors at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Fitzgerald was the inaugural recipient of the South College Distinguished Service Award.
-
Heather Gagliano from the Idaho Immunization Coalition discusses all of the ways Idaho State University College of Pharmacy students and faculty help the coalition meet their mission of immunizing Idaho and what’s on the horizon for the two organizations. -
National Antibiotic Resistance Week is November 18-24. Dr. Karl Madaras-Kelly, professor in the ISU College of Pharmacy joins Pharmacy Fusion for a discussion on how antibiotic resistance came to be in the US, where Idaho ranks compared to other states, and how student pharmacists are working to solve the problem.
-
When we visit a community pharmacy for a prescription, we see and interact with our pharmacists. But when hospitalized, and although many pharmacists practice in hospitals, patients do not always interact with them. College of Pharmacy alumni Dr. Scott Milner explains pharmacy services in a hospital setting, and how the process is both similar and different compared to a community pharmacy.
-
Pharmacy Fusion offers an inside look, in an easy to understand format, at the new guidelines and availability of COVID-19, monkeypox. Meningitis and influenza immunizations.
-
In this month's edition of Pharmacy Fusion, ISU Pharmacy Dean Walter Fitzgerald speaks with Dr. Tom Wadsworth. Tom was involved in both the initial planning stages in 2007 and successful launching of ISU Pharmacy's Alaskan campus in 2016.
-
Pharmacy is a growing field, especially for pharmacy technicians. Many pharmacists are also getting sign-on bonuses or other hiring incentives to work in the field. Plus, Idaho is one of the few states where pharmacists are able to diagnose and prescribe medications for things like strep throat or influenza, right there in the pharmacy. Rikki Trussel, College of Pharmacy Class of 2012, and new manager at Bengal Pharmacy in Pocatello says Idaho State University’s work with rural medicine and advancing the practice of pharmacy has always interested and excited her. She discusses the vision for Bengal Pharmacy not just in Pocatello, but at the two telepharmacy location sites in Arco and Challis, ID as well.
-
Pharmacy Fusion features a very special guest this month, a two-time Idaho State alumnus and recent recipient of the College of Pharmacy Professional Achievement award.
-
If you tuned into last month’s episode of Pharmacy Fusion, you learned about the research and grant funding related to the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy at Idaho State University. This month Dr. Renee Robinson joins Dean Walter Fitzgerald to talk about the research initiatives students and faculty are involved in, related to the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administrative Science. Dr. Robinson joins the broadcast from Anchorage, Alaska, where the College of Pharmacy has a cohort of students as part of a collaboration with the University of Alaska, Anchorage.
-
This month’s episode of Pharmacy Fusion offers an in depth look at many of the fascinating College of Pharmacy research initiatives with Dr. Marvin Schulte, chair and professor for the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
-
As a follow up to the February episode of Pharmacy Fusion where we discussed pre-diabetes and how to manage or prevent the onset of diabetes, Dr. Cara Liday joins Dean Walter Fitzgerald in this edition for a discussion of the different types of diabetes, how to manage the symptoms and how to improve conditions after diagnosis. Although pharmacists are the medication experts on the health care team, there are options for treating diabetes that do not include prescription medication such as lifestyle changes related to diet, exercise and more.
