On November 18, the College of Pharmacy celebrated the opening of the state-of-the-art and the 1st in the region College of Pharmacy based sterile compounding lab. The ribbon-cutting was done by Prof. Sherief Khalifa, the Dean of the College, Dr. Ahmed Chaker, Manager of the Sterile Compounding Center at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Dr. Ibrahim Elsayed, Associate Dean – Academics of the College.
The lab enables our PharmD graduates to learn and practice sterile compounding of non-hazardous and hazardous medications according to the Pharmacopoeial standards stated in USP 797 and USP 800 chapters. Graduating highly competent sterile compounding pharmacists will have a positive impact on the safety of patients and health-professionals on the national, regional and international levels. The design of the lab and the selection of the equipment were done in collaboration with the Department of Pharmacy Services at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi with a great support from Dr. Osama Tabbara, Executive Director, Department of Pharmacy Services.
The lab has an ante room, a non-hazardous compounding room, a hazardous compounding room and a demonstration room. The lab is equipped with three laminar flow hoods, two class II biological safety cabinets, incubator, quantitative centrifugal air sampler, portable video particle counter and two pen-smoke generators. Moreover, video cameras, mics and a high-quality sound system are utilized to enhance the student learning experience and enable students to learn from each other and from their mistakes through watching recorded videos of their performance after finishing the lab. Our PharmD students will receive a high-quality training on handling ampoules, vials, large volume parenterals, chemotherapy and antibiotic preparations, as well as getting an early experience in the field of quality assurance.
Dean Khalifa commented: The sterile compounding lab is a product of the strong partnership between GMU’s College of Pharmacy and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and a milestone on the road of uniting the highest standards in professional practice with academic excellence.