With mixed emotions of loss and celebration, we share the news that Dr. Renu Singh has decided to retire in June 2023. Renu is very dear to us all and her contributions to our school are vast.
Dr. Renu Singh completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy and Diploma of Hospital Pharmacy at University of Sydney, Australia. She practiced as a community pharmacist and inpatient staff pharmacist in Canberra, Australia, before arriving in the US to complete a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at University of Iowa, Iowa City. She completed her Residency in Pharmacy Practice at UCSF followed by a return to Iowa City to establish the first clinical ambulatory care pharmacist services at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in their Internal Medicine Clinics. She joined the faculty as a clinical assistant professor at Wayne State University School of Pharmacy in Detroit, where she co-chaired and taught Therapeutics while establishing a Diabetes Clinic in an inner-city Detroit and provided clinical services at Detroit Medical Center. Dr. Singh relocated to San Diego and joined SSPPS in 2002 as a founding faculty and co-chair of the first year Pharmacy Practice course under Dean Palmer Taylor.
Dr. Singh’s clinical practices have been numerous since joining the SSPPS, including the Student-Run Free Clinic Project, creating and managing a UCSDH Medicare Part D clinic, UCSDH Family Medicine Clinic, creating and co-managing a pharmacist-managed UCSDH Hypertension Clinic, and a UCSDH Diabetes and Cardiovascular Clinic. In 2010, she co-founded the UCSDH Diabetes Management and Education Clinic, and successfully obtained accreditation for the clinic which enabled the clinic to bill for diabetes self-management education services via Medicare and other third-party payors. She created a collaborative practice agreement which enables pharmacists to adjust/add/discontinue medications and devices for diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, as well as order laboratory tests, and place referrals for specialist care. Her clinics have been a teaching site for IPPE and APPE students, as well as community, ambulatory and acute care pharmacy residents, and medical students and residents.
In 2018, Dr. Renu Singh was appointed Associate Dean for Experiential Education. She led the Office of Experiential Education (OEE) through the challenges of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic starting in mid-March 2020, and a successful ACPE Site Visit in November 2020. Under her leadership, a new a longitudinal community IPPE was added during the P1 academic year, rotation sites underwent evaluations and were supported by the office, several new experiential and industry partners relationships were established to benefit IPPE and APPE students, and she continued to support preceptors with continuing education and recognition of their teaching efforts.
We will miss Renu’s positive demeanor and her strong leadership which overcame many challenges she faced. Dr. Singh’s contributions have left a lasting legacy for SSPPS and the friendship bonds she has created will remain forever cherished.