They are studying beside you in the library. They are walking past you in the hallways. They are eating with you in the cafeteria. They are pharmacy students and they are everywhere. The common notion is that pharmacy majors are in the library all the time, studying or overdosing on coffee.
While it is true that the fascinating field known as pharmacy requires diligent study, pharmacy students are contributing in a large way to the well-being of the student body and the local community by volunteering their time, knowledge, and efforts.
Today, pharmacy is oriented toward patient care. The focus of the profession is on the patient and providing appropriate, individualized clinical care. Student pharmacists at St. John’s are exemplifying this definition, not only on an individual basis at their respective places of work, such as community and retail pharmacies or hospitals, but also as collective bodies through various student organizations such as Phi Lambda Sigma (Pharmacy Leadership Society), Rho Chi (Pharmacy Honors Society), and APhA (American Pharmacists Association).
Within the last year, APhA held an osteoporosis screening, heartburn lecture, and meningitis lecture on the Queens campus to the local community. Student members of Rho Chi organized “Project TLC: Smoking Cessation Program,” a campus-wide outreach program aimed at counseling and providing free samples of products such as Nicoderm CQ patches to college students and faculty who were determined to quit smoking. And despite the rain and clouds, Rho Chi members joined the fight against multiple sclerosis at South Street Seaport in the annual MS Walk in April.
St. John’s pharmacy students are out and about this semester as well. APhA will be coordinating a Diabetes Informational Table on Oct. 3 on the Queens campus. And don’t be surprised if you recognize some familiar faces on the NBC and ABC morning shows next month. St. John’s pharmacy students will be representing the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions on Oct. 5 at the launch of American Pharmacists Month, sponsored by the two television networks. In addition, Phi Lambda Sigma, the student pharmacy organization that exemplifies pharmacy leadership, is coordinating a guest speaker event in November in which prominent leaders from Pfizer and New York Presbyterian Hospital will visit the Queens campus and discuss the keys to success in leadership.
An inevitable side effect of pharmacy school is compassion-compassion for your patient, your fellow students, and for your community. Pharmacy students are expressing their compassion outside of the classroom and making a difference in the lives of those around them. These future healthcare experts contribute selflessly to the health of the student body and local community, embody and exercise the ideals of the University, and create a strong network of caring professionals at the forefront of patient care.
St. John’s pharmacy students are making a difference one student, one patient and one community at a time.
