USA

When I first began my journey as a pre-pharmacy student 8 years ago. I only knew about retail and hospital pharmacists. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue pharmacy completely. Since then, after learning about the roles of pharmacists in many different aspects of pharmacy, I have fallen in love with the profession. I have interacted with pharmacists in many different roles ranging from specialty, managed care, ambulatory care, pharmaceutical industry and informatics, other non-traditional. I continued my journey to apply to pharmacy school while getting experience at a local grocery store chain as a pharmacy technician. During my time there, I saw all that my pharmacists did and was amazed with their relationships they had with their patient. They provided medication counseling, performed medication therapy management, optimized patient adherence, gave immunizations and safe medication taking. As a pharmacy intern, I have been able to counsel, recommend therapy and optimize patient care through different avenues. Throughout my pharmacy school journey, I have become very involved in student organizations on the chapter, state and national levels including the American Pharmacists Association, Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. My involvement has allowed me to network with many pharmacists and gain knowledge about the different roles and the kind of impact a pharmacist can have in healthcare. Many of my favorite memories of pharmacy school were being involved with the organizations and connecting with other likeminded students.