New Opportunities

One of my favorite things to talk about when it comes to the Pharmacy program here at GA-PCOM is always how many great opportunities we have for our students to get involved. I have always been an active member in my class and I have always been surprised at just how easy it is to get involved if you are willing to put in the time and effort. Because we are so new, and our school so close knit, there are always new windows of opportunities opening up for those who are looking.

This year I'm taking on a whole set of new challenges and openings at school. As I've mentioned before, earlier this year I was selected to chair the Clinical Skills Committee for ASHP (the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists) on our campus. It was a great chance to put on a fun event for our students that also gave them a great platform to practice the things we've all been working so hard to learn. It was also a chance for our two winning students to go represent our school on a national level at the ASHP Midyear meeting in Orlando and show off how much we've all learned.

In addition to chairing my committee I also had the opportunity to take on another position, that being the Student Government Association Representative for my class. The Student Government Association is just like SGAs at other schools in that we have representatives from all of our programs who all come together to help solve issues facing our students and school as a whole. What makes it fun is the diversity of our members. A lot of the people I've met have been students I've passed in the hall but never had the chance to interact with. It's also a great way to foster school spirit since we are all there because we love our school so much and want the make it the best it can be.

On that note I wanted to talk about something I get asked about a lot. Over the years, I've had a lot of people ask me why I chose to go to a school that was not a "guarantee". What they mean by that is why I chose to attend a school that was so new and still going through its accreditation phase. It all goes back to our people for me. We have such a wonderful group of individuals here. Faculty, staff and students are all committed to getting us to the "finish line" of graduating our first class. When I first visited the campus I was just as unsure about things as the people who asked me that question. What gave me the assurance to take this leap was definitely the people involved in this program. I've never met anyone I trust more with my future. They have put countless hours and effort into developing a state-of-the-art program that will enable its students to get the best preparation for their lives possible. We also have amazing students who work tirelessly to get the word out about our program and improve our community.

With that said, I am confident that the future of our program is bright. With the hard work of everyone involved, we will accomplish more than we yet know.

Katie