Getting Rio Grande Valley Ready 

UHCOP Welcomes Ronnie Ozuna as Inaugural Assistant Dean of RGV Pharm.D. Satellite Program with Edinburg-based Doctor's Hospital at Renaissance   

UH College of Pharmacy is proud to announce the appointment of Ronnie Ozuna, Pharm.D., BCPS, as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research (PPTR) and as the college's inaugural Assistant Dean for the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Pharm.D. Satellite Program based at Doctor’s Hospital Renaissance (DHR) in Edinburg.

Fluent in Spanish, Ozuna is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and certified in Medication Therapy Management. Ozuna has worked in both clinical/hospital and community pharmacy settings, most recently as DHR’s Pharmacy Clinical Manager since 2009. During his time with DHR, Ozuna played a leading role in the development and/or implementation of a variety of clinical pharmacy initiatives, including a pharmacokinetic consult service, pharmacy renal dosing program, IV-to-Oral conversion program, medication reconciliation/medication therapy management service, and transition to an electronic medication administration record (eMAR) system. 

He earned a Pharm.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin (UTA) College of Pharmacy and a B.A. in Biology from Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College Station. A licensed pharmacy preceptor, Ozuna has received Preceptor of the Year awards from the UTA and TAMU Irma Rangel colleges of pharmacy.

In June, UHCOP and DHR signed an affiliation agreement to create the RGV Pharm.D. Satellite Program designed to expand clinical pharmacy services to underserved areas in South Texas, provide new interprofessional and post-graduate training opportunities for pharmacy students, and help address the region’s shortage of healthcare professionals. The program entails designated first-year students enrolling in the UHCOP Pharm.D. program will attend the UH campus in Houston for the first three years, then complete their advanced experiential training in the RGV.