One of the exciting opportunities Campbell has to offer is the H-PREP Program; it is a program that encourages and influences perspective students to be part of the health profession career path. You have the opportunity to talk with health professionals in all areas from Pharmacy, Physician Assistant, to Research Clinicians.  You also have the opportunity to participate in resume building, PCAT learning sessions, and many more. Being a mentor in this program was extremely rewarding. I was able to get involved with student life outside of the classroom and was a positive influence to participants through interactions from playing games, tour guiding, answering questions regarding pharmacy school, and so many more. Campbell University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is steadily growing and  offers so many exciting opportunities. Being part of such an agile University and Program is something I will always cherish.

~Syreeta, P2 student

It’s no secret that a valuable pharmacy school education comes with a price. Thankfully, Campbell University has an incredible alumni base and strong relationships with major pharmacy corporations that donate significant amounts of scholarship money to the pharmacy program to be awarded to students annually. Student Affairs then coordinates an essay competition held every May. The essays are critiqued by a committee and scholarship recipients are chosen. Extracurricular and service activities are also a huge factor. I really like how CPHS handles scholarships because I can write one essay, fill out a single application, and am eligible to win one of many scholarships versus having to apply for each and every one of them individually.

On February 9, 2013, Campbell University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences hosted our annual scholarship luncheon to honor the donors and scholarship recipients. A wonderful meal was provided and our families were invited to attend. It was a great opportunity to personally thank the generous donors in attendance for providing opportunities for students to attend pharmacy school, as well as the other health science programs. It was a great time for fellowship with pharmacy students, our families, and faculty.

This year, more than $240,000 was awarded to over 115 students.

It is such an incredible blessing to not only have the support of your family and friends, but to also have the support of the university and its alumni. I think that says a lot about the character of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

~ Christy, P2 student

Caption: Dean Maddox, myself, and Dr. Greenwood (P1/P2 professor)

This is my second year in pharmacy school at Campbell University and I have had so many people ask me why I chose to come here. During my undergraduate studies at Campbell I fell in love with the family atmosphere and the attitude of the professors who were always willing to help students; I truly felt like I belonged. Pharmacy school has been just as wonderful, if not better. These past two years have been the best of my life. I have been surrounded by a community of professors and students who want to help me succeed. The professors generally have an open door policy and are willing to help any student at any time with issues related to coursework and even those outside school. They are more than just professors; they are advisors, confidants, and friends. My fellow student pharmacists are a remarkable and diverse group of people who have come together to form a strong, supportive community. In truth, we are a family and our  little family extends beyond our campus. At Campbell, we are known not only for our excellent academic program, but also for our commitment to community service and helping others. We reach out to the community through efforts to raise healthcare awareness, by performing health screenings, and volunteering to help the underprivileged. When people ask me why I chose Campbell it is often hard for me to single out one reason. I chose it because it is the total package and I’m thankful I did. The past two years here have been the most rewarding ones of my life.

P2 Student

Today I helped at one of the CPHS Open House events. This was a great opportunity for undergraduate students to come to Campbell and learn more about the programs that Campbell’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has to offer. About 20 students came with their families and enjoyed talking to some of the faculty in the admissions office along with some of the professors. One of the things I think is the most beneficial about these open house days is the opportunity to interact with the student panel. A group of current pharmacy students are there to answer any questions a student or parent may have about the life of a pharmacy student, what classes are like, the adjustment to graduate school, or what to do for fun. I think that students and parents feel a little more at ease after hearing from current students. Many people feel uneasy about applying, going into the interview, or starting classes. I really enjoy getting to share my experiences and advice with people because I know what it is like to have all sorts of questions and not know where to direct them. Campbell University truly is a place I am passionate about and it is great to share that with others.

Rotations are a subject that many students looking to become pharmacists may not be able to fully grasp until they’re actually in pharmacy school. I knew coming in that my first summer I would have to work in a retail pharmacy for a month, after my second year would be the hospital rotation, and I definitely didn’t worry too much about figuring out the P4 year of rotations because that was far enough off. Now that I’ve been through the process of the lottery and picking my rotation I have a better appreciation for the system. Here at Campbell, the lottery system is used to keep everything as fair as possible. By lottery system they literally mean that you walk up to the front of the room and pick a chip out of a bag. That chip has a number on it, and that number is the number you will get to choose your site for your rotation. Of course everyone hopes to get within the top 10 so they can have the first choice of sites. I, however, pulled number 97 (totally my luck ha). As the day of the lottery grew closer Dr. Brown and Mrs. White, who run the scheduling for the rotations, updated the spreadsheet that had the possible sites and what months they were available. Monday, January 28th, was the day we got to pick our rotation sites for our community rotation. I just wanted to give a few words of wisdom so to speak for all the incoming P1’s going into the lottery. So here it is.

For the community rotation there are many, many sites to choose from. So, if you end up #97 like I did don’t immediately get discouraged (you’re not allowed to switch numbers so no matter what, the number you pick is the number you will be when picking your site).
BEST ADVICE: Go in with at least 10 different sites that you would be okay with for your rotation. By the time it was finally my choice my top three choices were already gone and quite a few of the others that were some of my lower choices were gone as well. However, since I came prepared with like 12 different sites from the spreadsheet I was still able to make a good decision on where I wanted to be.
If you want to do an out-of-system rotation (meaning not one that would be on the spreadsheet of sites that the school provides) figure this out as early as possible. There are specific rules that have to be followed for out-of-system site choices. For example, if I decided to go back home to New Jersey, I would have had to find a location, preceptor, have them fill out a form, and make sure that I had all of the requirements that New Jersey has to allow me to work in a pharmacy in New Jersey.
Don’t be afraid to ask. I immediately went to my peer leader and fellow student ambassador Christy Westbrook and talked to her about what to expect. She is a P2 student here and had already gone through the process. Her insight for me helped me out a lot.

In general, I may have been number 97, but because I talked to people who had been through it and came prepared I ended up leaving with a rotation site that I was definitely okay with!

Hope your experience is just as good as mine!
Jessica Humenik
P1 Student

This Tuesday I attended the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences first Campbell Collaborative Case Conference or C4 event, along with many other Pharmacy, Physician Assistant, and Public Health students. We all got there at 5 o’clock and were assigned into case groups, each group being composed of 2 P3 Pharmacy students, 2 P2 Pharmacy students, 2 P1 pharmacy students, 2 PA students, and 2 public health students. We also had 2 faculty facilitators, one from the PA school and one from the College of Pharmacy. For the first 30 minutes we ate dinner and had the opportunity to meet and talk with our group members before we started working on the case together.

We were given a case and asked to decide as a group what information to gather from the patient, and then the patient (well, it was actually an “actor”) was invited into the room for us to conduct a 20 minute interview. After we felt like we had collected all the relevant information from the patient the facilitators provided us with information regarding the physical exam, and then as a group we considered the findings and developed a plan of care for our patient. Finally, the patient was brought back in and we communicated the findings and plan of care with our patient.

This C4 event was an amazing opportunity to work with students from other disciplines and really see how our professions can work together to provide optimal care for patients. It was great to see how students from each discipline brought something different and equally important to the table as we worked together to interview, diagnose, care for, and communicate with the patient. I am excited for more of these events to get to work with the PA and public health students again, and eventually the medical students as well. We are all going to be working together one day, and the more we practice doing that now, the better!

Emily Howard- P1

On Friday the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences held their annual Apothecary Ball. This event is really important for the college because it gives students from every department a chance to socialize and have fun. There were students from the pharmacy program, clinical research, public health, and many other programs. We even had a few professors there! Pictured below are Dr. Hamrick – the P1 Microbiology and Immunology professor – and her husband.

The event started at 8 PM and lasted until midnight. During the evening you could see groups of friends chatting and dancing the night away. Around 11, the PSEB officers presented superlatives to students who were voted on by their respective classes. One of the superlatives to draw the biggest laugh was “Most Likely to Flirt with Their Pharmacy Techs”.

Everyone had a great time and is looking forward to next year!   -Vicky, P1 Student

Written By: Jessica Humenik

This weekend the APhA-ASP sponsored Cardiac 5K took place. I was one of the people that signed up to actually run (and I say that loosely because I walked most of it). It actually started off at 8:30am and the path that we were running took around Campbell’s campus. It was great to see the number of P1’s (including myself) that came out to support the cause. It took me somewhere around 37 minutes to finish the whole 5K, and I was close to the end of the group.

One of the cool things about this 5K was the booths that were set up at the start/end point of the race. There were places for us to get our blood glucose checked, learn about poison control, talk to representatives from UAEM (an organization on campus), and few others as well. The cool thing about the booths is that the pharmacy students run them, so it allows us to get some experience dealing with people as well as practicing the skills we learn such as taking blood glucose.

Finally, the other really nice thing about events like this is that they count for community service hours. Here at Campbell University we are required to have 80 hours by the time we graduate. The many different organizational events that are put on during the year greatly help to achieve that 80 hours. This Cardiac 5K is just one example.

The American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s National Meeting was held from October 21-24 at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida. As a member of the Campbell University Student Chapter of ACCP, myself along with several other Campbell pharmacy students attended the meeting. We arrived on Friday October 19^th, to attend a special 6 hour student directed program entitled “Emerge from the Crowd: How to be an Outstanding Residency Candidate.”  About 30 pharmacy students from across the country were at the program and we were given the opportunity to hear outstanding advice from some of the most impressive leaders and residency preceptors in the clinical pharmacy field. The program included a learning styles inventory, tips on how to study and get involved in the profession, a resume building workshop, advice on finding mentors and getting involved in research, as well as information on how the residency application and match process works including a residency round-table discussion.

While most people in attendance at the student program were in their P2 or P3 year, I strongly recommend this and other similar sessions and meetings for P1s. Attending these kinds of programs, even if they are directed at older students, gives you the chance to experience a meeting and get a feel for how things work before attending in the future. In particular, many of the things discussed in the “Emerge from the Crowd” program applied directly to how I could start preparing now, as a P1 and the steps I could start taking to be the best residency applicant possible by my P4 year.