VALDOSTA — A South Georgia pharmacist earned national recognition recently.

Chris Coleman of Chancy Drugs, Valdosta, earned second place, coordinators said.

Something unusual happened at Pharmacy Compounding Centers of America International Seminar 2019 in Houston, according to organizers.

The research and development team kicked off the first-ever PCCA Formulation Challenge. Compounders from across the country applied to participate in the competition.

As part of their applications, they demonstrated their creative problem-solving abilities by submitting innovative formulas that their pharmacies had developed and successfully used to help patients.

Only five teams of two were selected to compete in the event. Chris Coleman, PharmD, of Chancy Drugs in Valdosta was selected to participate in the competition and partnered with Omar Eliwa, RPh, of Wellopia Pharmacy in Thiensville, Wis., organizers said.

An internal PCCA panel judged the applicants based on their creativity and ability to develop a formula to meet a patient’s needs. 

The competitors whom the panel selected formed five teams, each with a unique name that they chose for themselves. Coleman and Eliwa selected “Flip the Script” for their team name.

Each team was presented with a hypothetical patient suffering from various health and cosmetic challenges, and they had 60 minutes to develop and prepare a compounded medication that would treat the patient’s symptoms.  

At the end of the competition, the compounders presented their preparations to the audience one at a time, and then the judges walked around and asked specific questions of each team, tallying points and taking notes.

The judges completed their evaluation rubrics, giving point values to each team based on five criteria: formulation design, creativity and originality of ideas, overall formula aesthetics and stability, presentation and teamwork.