Each October, the University of New Mexico (UNM) College of Pharmacy excuses its entire student body from classes for a day. The future pharmacists spend the time discussing poison prevention at elementary schools, delivering free flu immunizations at community centers, conducting diabetes education at local libraries, and more.
In 2023, a student from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy teamed up with a palliative care pharmacist to host a class on safe opioid conversions. And on Oct. 21, the Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SSHP) at the Belmont University College of Pharmacy in Nashville, Tennessee, plans to kick off its very first Pharmacy Week with a flurry of activities—while wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the name of ASHP’s new national awareness campaign, We’re Your Pharmacist.
These SSHP events all coincide with National Pharmacy Week, a chance for student pharmacists to display the depth and breadth of their skills, educate their community, and help people achieve optimal medication therapy outcomes.
“We love taking this time out of October every year,” said Christina M. Tarango, a P3 student and president of UNM’s SSHP. “We get to show everyone what pharmacists can do and what we're all about.”
Different Flavors of Pharmacy Week
Celebrated the third full week in October, National Pharmacy Week recognizes the powerful impact pharmacists and pharmacy technicians make on patient care in all healthcare settings. It is also a time to raise awareness about the vital role pharmacists play on the healthcare team. At schools and colleges of pharmacy nationwide, students use the week to advocate for their profession.
Since 2012, UNM’s Community Outreach Day has focused on delivering free, essential health services and information to underserved populations across New Mexico. In 2022, UNM served 2,960 New Mexicans of all ages at 26 sites in 12 cities. To cover so much ground, the SSHP partners with the school’s American Pharmacists Association chapter as well as student groups representing managed care pharmacy, nursing, occupational therapy, oncology, and physical therapy.
While many outreach sites are in the Albuquerque region, where UNM is located, students also venture to more rural areas of the state, including their own hometowns. The communities are always eager for health information, screenings, and consultations. And the students commonly hear: “I didn't realize pharmacy did all that.”
“We're not only setting an example for interprofessional collaboration, we’re also able to advocate for the role of pharmacy within our communities and the vulnerable populations we’re trying to reach,” said UNM P4 student Alexander Nihart.
At Pitt, the lecture and practice session on opioid conversions was the first in a four-part series titled “Opioid Use Stewardship and Accountability,” giving pharmacy students greater insight into a timely healthcare topic. “It’s important for pharmacists to take initiative and for students to learn about this topic that we usually don’t get to in depth in the classroom,” shared P3 student and current SSHP President Jodi Chen.
The Belmont SSHP plans to hold residency workshops for P1 and P2 students and welcome a guest speaker to campus, an ICU pharmacist and postgraduate year 1 residency director from the nearby TriStar Summit Medical Center. Also on the menu: selling grilled cheese sandwiches to Belmont’s health science students to raise funds for their student group.
“Our goal is to be much more visible on campus,” explained Belmont SSHP President Rachel Sutcavage, a P3 student.
Advocacy In Action
Pharmacy Week is one of several ways SSHPs advocate for the profession throughout the year. Belmont is focused on preparing students for postgraduate residencies and fellowships, including a CV and letter of intent workshop. Many SSHPs host events supporting ASHP’s Practice Advancement Initiative (PAI). They’re also active in their state capitals. For example, UNM pharmacy students were a crucial voice in passing HB42, which, in 2020, established reimbursement parity for pharmaceutical services statewide.
Pitt and its related health system, UPMC, also routinely showcase pharmacists and pharmacy school faculty on social media throughout the year—for healthcare professionals, students, and even patients to see.
"I think it's about not accepting the status quo,” said Pitt assistant professor and SSHP advisor Heather Johnson, PharmD. “Students need to know that pharmacy has come a long way and, while there’s still a long way to go, we got here by being strong advocates for the profession and the role that the profession can play.”
Planning Tips for Pharmacy Students
Want to develop or scale your school’s activities for National Pharmacy Week? These SSHP student leaders offer the following advice.
- Start small. UNM’s Community Outreach Day adds more community sites and more volunteers every year. “It’s important to just start somewhere, see the impact that it has, and carry that forward,” Nihart advised.
- Take initiative. Tarango makes a point of putting herself out there. “This whole summer, I was reaching out to people and just seeing how we would work together—and it hasn't steered me wrong,” she said.
- Start early. Planning for an October event ideally begins in the summer, before the semester starts. “If it's in the planner ready to go, then it just sets you up for success,” said P2 Victoria Witouski, SSHP president-elect at Belmont.
- Lean on experience. Pharmacy Week events are student-driven, but SSHP advisors and mentors weigh in too. “Faculty members have so much to give to students,” said Chen. “Bring in as much help as you can and get the ball rolling as soon as you can.”
- Promote, promote. SSHPs have found great success publicizing their National Pharmacy Week events on social media and group messaging apps that are popular among classmates.
- Team up. UNM credits interprofessional collaboration for helping them rebound from the pandemic, when so many community events needed to be put on hold. For example, the Stand Together Geriatric Initiative pairs students from SSHP and other partner organizations to conduct fall risk and cognitive assessments and provide medication histories so seniors can remain safe and independent in their homes. Now the SSHP gets invited to participate in those disciplines’ events too.
- Reflect and grow. “The SSHP Executive Team takes each year's growing pains and learns from them so that we can be better the next year,” said Stephanie Dailey, a third-year UNM student. “All the students are really excited about [Community Outreach Day] because we know we’re going to get the experience we so desire in pharmacy and in advocacy.”
National Pharmacy Week: Get tools to help your classmates and colleagues join the celebration.
