Making the World a Better Place - Touro College

Prescription for Prevention
PDAPEP in Staten Island
Touro College of Pharmacy
Staten Island has been called “ground zero” for
prescription drug abuse, with the worst rates of
overdose and abuse in the five boroughs. A 2009 study
from the New York Department of Mental Health and Hygiene
found that every 13 days someone dies from a prescription
drug overdose on Staten Island.
According to a 2008 survey from New York
City’s Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene, 11.2 percent of middle and high
school students on Staten Island admitted to
using prescription drugs for recreational use.
When Krina Patel, a third-year student at
Touro College of Pharmacy who lives on
Staten Island, first heard these statistics, she
was shocked—and wanted to act. She says,
“As a pharmacy student and future public
health advocate, I realized the massive need
to raise awareness of the prescription drug
abuse problem on Staten Island and its
adverse outcomes among teens.”
A native of India, Patel had previous
experience working with high school
students; in her days as an undergraduate at
UCLA she mentored high school students
from economically disadvantaged
neighborhoods in science, biotechnology
and health care. She says,
“From that experience, I
learned the elements of
public health and educating others for a
better community.”
To pursue her interest in pharmacy, public
health and education, in 2010 Patel enrolled
at Touro College of Pharmacy, a school she
was drawn to for its strong emphasis on
community engagement. After her first year,
Patel was assigned a public health practice
experience in New York State Senator
Charles Schumer’s office, in the summer of
2011. Armed with information about the
prescription pill epidemic in Staten Island,
Patel pitched a peer-to-peer education
program to Schumer’s staff. Patel also had
the support of Craig Kovera, Ph.D.,
associate professor in the Department of
Pharmacy and Health Outcomes. He says,
“Krina came to me and said, ‘I think we have
an opportunity here.’ ”
Not only were the statistics alarming, but
since New York State had discontinued its
D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance
Education) program in 2009 there had been
an uptick in prescription drug overdoses. An
educational program was sorely needed.
At Patel’s prompting, Schumer’s office
launched an initiative to address the
prescription drug abuse epidemic on Staten
Island through education and prevention.
Internally, Touro refers to the program as the
Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and
Education Program (PDAPEP). It was to be
a collaborative effort, led by students from
three of the city’s top pharmacy schools:
Touro, St. John’s University and Long Island
University. After Schumer’s office polled
schools in Staten Island to gauge interest,
each pharmacy school was assigned two
high schools. Touro students were assigned
28 TOURO LINKS I SPRING 2013