By Benjamin Waldrum
One of the nation’s leading pharmacy schools, the UAMS College of Pharmacy excels in an area few others do: nuclear pharmacy. UAMS is one of only a handful of nuclear pharmacy programs in the United States that offers the full 200-hour Authorized Nuclear Pharmacy Certificate Program in this specialized field.
Radioactive materials are used in imaging and treatment for thousands of patients across the world, and nuclear pharmacists undergo rigorous training to ensure proper handling of these materials so that radioactive drug products and dosages are prepared correctly and safely. Since radioactive isotopes can have a short half-life, (that is, the amount of time that there is a sufficient amount of the radioactive drug needed for imaging or therapy) nuclear pharmacists are regularly on-call day or night to prepare dosages when they are needed.
The ANP certificate that the College of Pharmacy offers is necessary to become a nuclear pharmacist. This designation is recognized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its Agreement States, which are specially granted authority to license and inspect byproduct, source or special nuclear materials. This certificate is combined with 500 hours of hands-on training in a nuclear pharmacy with radioactive materials to learn proper safety and handling.
