“Community pharmacy isn’t clinical.” It’s something pharmacy students hear often, along with the line, “if you want to do clinical pharmacy, you need to go into hospital pharmacy.” I challenge this notion. ALL pharmacy is clinical pharmacy, and upon graduation I plan to show this to students. Community pharmacists often request changes to physicians, monitor patients for disease control and side effects with the aim of ensuring safe and effective treatment. Currently, as a pharmacy intern at an independent community pharmacy, I often communicate with physician on patient status changes and advocate on their behalf. Specifically, I partake in outreach efforts to patients calling them to talk about their breathing if they have asthma or COPD. Then, if necessary, I contact their physician with a recommendation to better the breathing. This service has shown me how community pharmacy can be clinical. As a future community pharmacist, I plan to teach students this as a mentor and advocate for community practice. To do this, I plan to take pharmacy students at my practice site. I’ve had the privilege of having strong pharmacist mentors in my academic career who have shown me the importance of mentorship and advocacy. Furthermore, I plan to act as advocate for pharmacy at the state level in Pennsylvania to ensure pharmacists to come are able to practice at the top of their license.

My Great Uncle Tom was kind, generous and lively throughout his life. He served in the US Army, jumped out of planes, and lived with integrity. When he passed in the spring of 2022, it was an absolute shock to my entire family. I have had no living grandfather throughout my life, and my Uncle Tom stepped up to that role, and he is greatly missed. He had no children of his own, but he left behind a very devoted and loving wife. But this story is not about my Uncle Tom, it's about my Great Aunt Lois. As a kid, my Aunt Lois was an enigma. She was quiet, always seemed grouchy and just a bit off. When we would call to check in on them, sometimes my uncle would shorten the call with "Lois is on the warpath today, we will call you tomorrow when things are brighter." We never truly understood what that meant, until my uncle was extremely ill. When my uncle entered the intensive care unit before he passed, we took in my Aunt Lois. At first, my family coughed up my Aunt's strange behavior to confusion and grief. But shortly after he passed, we realized there was a much larger problem at hand. My Aunt Lois was confused, often forgot things and spoke to my late Uncle Tom in the middle of the night in our guest bedroom. After a long battle of doctor's appointments and emergency room trips, my aunt's primary care physician let my mother know my aunt had dementia. It was at this point, we realized my uncle protected my aunt for years. Quietly taking care of her, tending to her needs and helping ensure she was healthy. He never once shared his pain or shamed his wife. It was obvious she was very far along in her disease progression and required greater care than we could give her. My uncle had been saving for years to ensure be able to send her to an excellent memory care facility. At first, my aunt fought hard about entering a memory care facility, but slowly she made improvements and settled into her own. Today my aunt thrives at her new home. As a pharmacy student, our curriculum includes various disease states and related treatments. One of the most difficult aspects of her diagnosis for me was learning about Alzheimer's Disease in real time as this was occurring. I learned about the prognosis, complications and symptoms of the disease while learning my aunt was suffering. It was terrifying to experience it as I was learning. I thought about the burden on my uncle and my mother as they cared for her. I drew my strength from my uncle's silent perseverance. He inspired my passion for this patient population. My aunt is witty, loving and loyal. Through our family's journey, we have learned acceptance, tolerance and compassion. As a future pharmacist, I hope to alleviate patient and family concerns. To ease the burden this diagnosis may have on a family and help these patients thrive in their lives. Pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare provider. Allowing them to provide compassionate care in times of need.

There’s a feeling you get when you cross the finish line first or come up with the answer the fastest. This feeling of accomplishment is motivated by something within each of us. Determination, grit, drive, or whatever you call it is, is something I value most in myself. I’ve always wondered why I needed to be the best or at least put my best self forward. It’s not because of the feeling of accomplishment or winning but rather my determination. Throughout my life, I’ve constantly doubted myself, lacked self confidence or heard others say “That one? Oh she’s bossy.” I can remember every time someone called me bossy or demanding but I’ve never let it stop me. Little girls are often titled bossy when in reality it’s a trait many would refer to as assertive and good future leaders in young boys. I’ve used my own bossiness to become a determined leader. For a long time I struggled to define myself as determined, I’ve since recognized our own perceived weaknesses can be our greatest strengths. In my future career and life I plan to use my grit and strong willed nature to inspire and lead with confidence. I’ve always finished what I started. Whether it be a race on the cross country course in high school, a super hard organic chemistry test or doing yet another COVID-19 vaccination clinic even after I was tired of doing them. Life is full of challenges and without the determination to keep going we become complacent or unhappy with ourselves. When I failed a college class, many of my classmates asked, why would I retake it instead of simply changing majors. I didn't have an answer for them, I simply shrugged and retook the class. After retaking it and getting an A, I knew it was due to my drive. The first book I can remember reading had the line “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” This phrase has stuck with me always and helped me power through even when I wanted to walk away. Drive, determination and grit is a gift I am lucky enough to have and be able to use to motivate others. Which is why this is what I value most in myself. This quality pushes me to challenge myself in all aspects of my life. In the future, as a pharmacist it will push me to practice at the top of my license and push others to do the same. Healthcare professionals provide life saving services every day and the ones that go the extra mile ensure that their community remains both happy and healthy. I know that my determination to get the job done and get it done right will ensure that I succeed in anything I do. Additionally, I know it will allow me to manage other people with confidence and help them grow in their own ways. Pharmacists must have strong interpersonal communication skills and be assertive when necessary. Since recognizing my determination as a strength, I can use this skill to communicate with other healthcare professionals when advocating for patients. Whether it means using my grit to make sure my patients receive the correct medication or advocating for patients who can’t do it for themselves. I hope to use my determination as a tool to help me push through long days and the short ones.

I am pursuing my Doctorate in Pharmacy and my Master's in Business Administration with a certificate in Analytics and Information Management. Currently, I am in my last professional year before attending rotations. My future career goals are independent pharmacy ownership and pharmacy advocacy at the state and federal levels. As a child, I wanted to be an astronaut who explored space for the advancement of mankind. Which faded quickly after I saw a bat looking through a telescope and realized I have pretty terrible motion sickness. But my passion for science and discovery did not fade. When it was time to pick a college major, my late neighbor suggested pharmacy. She told me that pharmacy was a combination of biology, chemistry, and problem-solving. Unlike many other pharmacy students, I did not shadow a pharmacist or even truly know what a pharmacist did. I trusted her recommendation and jumped feet first. I applied to six-year Doctor of Pharmacy programs as a senior in high school. In my first professional year at pharmacy school, I began working at a small independent pharmacy. Where I realized I had picked the right major and career path for me. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was able to vaccinate, manage vaccination clinics and provide valuable information to the community. Throughout this time, my passion for science and pharmacy pushed me to keep going even when it was difficult to balance everything in my life. When I considered majors I wanted to help people. While I may not have known what pharmacists did, I knew that health care professionals helped people, regardless of their day-to-day tasks. Although a simple goal, working in an independent pharmacy has allowed me to do just that. This goal of helping people was fulfilled in a small way recently. A few months ago, I counseled a patient on the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and small changes they could make to improve their health. Recently, she stopped me on a medication delivery to say she had lost fifteen pounds and her blood pressure had been consistently normal. I was so happy to see the impact I had had on her. This helped me recognize why I chose pharmacy and why I continue to work hard at this goal. While as a high school senior applying to pharmacy school I may not have known what pharmacists did, I feel as though I have found my calling.

Alexander Fleming would be called a careless laboratory technician by any standards if he didn't just happen to discover something that opened the door to safer surgeries and decreased death due to infection. Penicillin or as the doctors and pharmacists know it- PCN V K. Some may call it the father of all antibiotics. Penicillin is used to treat a large host of infections. Anything from meningitis or prophylaxis against other infections. My great uncle is a World War II Marine Veteran, who was treated with penicillin while out on duty, and if not for that he may not be here to share his great wisdom, at his wise age of 97. Like all great drugs, it took about a decade for clinicians to utilize penicillin. Penicillin and its class of antibiotics, the beta-lactams, inhibit the synthesis of cell walls in bacteria. Thus stopping bacteria from growing. This was the first antibiotic we had ever learned about in our infectious disease course and we took extra time to go over its discovery. Best of all, it was all an accident, which is why penicillin is my favorite scientific discovery.