The University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital Medication Dispensary serves as the medication hub for the entire hospital population, including small animal patients, large animal patients, wildlife, and zoo animals. The Medication Dispensary is involved in the following and more:
- Provide drug information resources
- Compound medications when patients require a different dosage form, strength, or ingredients
- Provide support for research
Prospective Students
The Medication Dispensary offers a unique opportunity in that medications are dispensed for both inpatient and outpatient use and are refilled for clients. Therefore, we function as both an inpatient and outpatient pharmacy. This provides for a variety of experiences for students and allows them to hone their skills interacting with clients and clinicians.
Veterinary medicine utilizes many human medications; however, we have some unique drugs and compounds you will not have seen before. This will allow students to put what they have learned about class-wide mechanisms and side effects to the test, apply themselves, and think outside the box.
During this rotation students will acquire experience in compounding:
- suspensions
- solutions
- capsules
- otics
- transdermal medications.
Students will also learn about veterinary pharmacy regulations, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variability in different species, common zoonotic diseases, and the most common disease states encountered in veterinary pharmacy, along with the appropriate treatment options.
The University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital Medication Dispensary currently has agreements with the University of Chicago, Butler, and Findlay for Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) students.
Current Students
Prepare for Your First Day
Pharmacy Hours
Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: Closed
*Arrive at 8:30 a.m. on your first day
Dress Code
The dress code is business casual with white coat and closed toed shoes. For certain shadowing opportunities you will want to bring scrubs. If the Zoo is available for a shadowing opportunity during your rotation, you will also need nice tennis shoes/boots/hiking shoes that you do not mind getting dirty as well as a non-branded or UIUC-branded jacket or sweatshirt.
Parking
You may park in meter spots near the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and pay the posted rate or contact UIUC Parking Services (https://parking.illinois.edu/) and purchase a permit that will allow you to park in a lot near the school.
Navigation
Enter “1008 W Hazelwood Dr. Urbana, IL 61802” into your maps system. You will drive past the Small Animal Emergency entrance (first parking lot on the right). Then take a right into the second entrance, you will see the sign for “Medication Dispensary” at the bottom. Walk through the door that says “Prescription Pick Up” above it and ring the doorbell to have a member of the staff let you into the pharmacy. Please note, you will not be able to park in this parking lot (review parking options above).
Lunch Options
- You will have access to a full-size refrigerator, microwave, and Keurig
- Grubhub, Doordash, UberEats, etc., deliver to the hospital
- Driving Distance: Culver’s, Arby’s, Biaggio’s Ristorante Italiano, Slim Chickens, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Starbucks, Aspen Tap House, Smoothie King, Oberweis, Moki Sushi, Steak and Shake, McDonalds, Merry Ann’s Diner, Houlihan’s, Rainbow Garden, Meatheads, Papa Del’s Pizza Factory, El Toro, Little Caesars Pizza, Dunkin Donuts, DP Dough, Chipotle, Jimmy Johns, and more
Public Transportation
Forms of public transportation can be found at the following link: https://fs.illinois.edu/services/more-services/tdm/transit
MTD
MTD is a public transportation service that provides transportation on and near the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. Maps, schedules, and pricing can be found here: https://mtd.org/
Housing
For students who do not have housing in the area, options include Airbnb, extended stay hotels, and on campus housing (https://housing.illinois.edu/Living-Options/Apartments/Short-Stay-Options). There are also students who sublease their apartments through the following groups on Facebook: Free & For Sale UIUC, Illinois Vet Med Free and For Sale, as well as others.
Assignments / Expectations
You are not expected to complete any work prior to the start of your rotation. Your syllabus and assignments will be available on Canvas. At the start of your rotation you will be provided log-in details.
About Us
The medication dispensary facilities include a large non-sterile compounding room, a USP 797/800 compliant cleanroom, and a drug room housed at our Veterinary Medicine South Clinic location.