Social Events

It goes without saying that pharmacy students know how to work hard, but sometimes we have to take time to let our hair down. That being said, we take our social events seriously, and work hard to make them a lot of fun. Today I wanted to share with you pictures from some of the events we've had over the past few weeks.

These first pictures are from our beautiful formal! There was a great turnout from our pharmacy, DO and biomedical programs. I had such a great time dressing up and hitting the dance floor with my classmates. We also had a tasty dinner and a great view of the aquarium's biggest attractions. A big thanks to the students who put the event together, because it was definitely a night to remember. I can't wait to see how we top it next year!

Some of our third year students enjoying a last night out before High Stakes exams began!

These gorgeous photos are courtesy of Abhishek Achar (shown above, left).

Next up are some photos from our Second Annual Easter Egg Hunt. You may think egg hunts are just for kids, but you haven't experienced how entertaining it is to chase down candy filled eggs with your friends and  professors. This year, students won prizes like gift cards, pharmacy t-shirts and gift baskets. There was perfect weather outside as Georgia begins to warm up for the spring.  All of the money raised from ticket sales went to a good cause as well.

She may or may not have laid that egg.

Much thanks to Jis Joseph for the pictures of the Egg Hunt!

Katie

Under the Sea

Hey guys!

This whole week has been a busy one for all of us here at PCOM. In addition to planning for the health fair I talked about in my last post, we have all been getting ready for formal. Every year the student council members from each program get together and plan a formal for all of the classes to enjoy. This year it will be in the Georgia Aquarium Ballroom! Our aquarium is one of my favorite places in the world and I am thrilled we're having the formal there. The ballroom opens up to two exhibits, the Ocean Voyager exhibit and the Beluga Whale habitat. The belugas are my favorite!

Here are some photos from one of my trips to the aquarium over the years:

We've also been busy planning for next year. Over the last few weeks we have had elections for many of our clubs and organizations. I've had many friends run for positions and it's always great to see my classmates getting involved. It's always been really great seeing so many of our first year students taking on leadership positions. As I move begin to wrap up this year, I'm glad to see that our newest class wants to be just as involved as I have been. I know they will do a great job with their new positions.

Good luck to them all!

Katie

Health Fair

This week at PCOM we are starting to gear up for our school's first official health fair. It will be at Rhodes Jordan Park in Lawrenceville, Georgia and will be staffed by our student volunteers. Our students have volunteered at many other health fairs but it's exciting to be planning one of our own. We've been working with the rest of the school to have students from all of our programs chip in so it will be a great tool to bring us all together as a school and help our community.

Some of the activities we have planned will focus on diabetes self-care, blood pressure monitoring, healthy eating, smoking cessation and immunizations. 

It will be a great opportunity for our students to fine tune their communication skills and to apply the information they've learned in classes all while improving the quality of life for people in our community. 

Here is a picture from a community event we did last year at a local elementary school.

I went with small group of students to the school and we were able to do a interactive presentation to classes of third graders on what being a pharmacist meant. They were so excited and it was so much fun!

Katie

Spring Break

Hey guys,

It's spring break A.K.A. "study break" here at PCOM and that means everyone's been taking a break to relax and recharge. I've had a great few days off and I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about some of the fun things we're doing for a break this year.

Georgia State Parks

Georgia is full of great parks and outdoors attractions if you love exploring nature. This month my good friend Will Brown and his girlfriend Courtney took these great photos of Tallulah Gorge. The next weekend I went camping and hiking there and it was a great cheap (and therefore student friendly) get away that we'll be repeating more this school year and summer.

Will and Courtney enjoying the views.

If you consider yourself more of a beach person than a mountain person we have a cure for that too. Savannah and Tybee Island are not too far away for a weekend getaway. Savannah is famous for it's St. Patrick's day celebrations but can be a lot of fun all year long. This spring break I decided to instead to go Pensacola, Florida. It's about a five hour drive from campus and is the beach is absolutely breathtaking. 

Here is a view of the sunrise from our hotel room:

And finally if you are most interested in city life, downtown Atlanta is only a half an hour away. This month there have been countless activities going on from concerts to arts and crafts shows to anime conventions. There is really something fun for everyone. 

And now it's time for me to get back to the grind and study for my Infectious Disease test. Hope you all have a great week!

Katie

Opportunities in Pharmacy Today

One of the things I love most about pharmacy is how diverse pharmacists' option are when it comes to pursuing their passions. There are so many different areas of pharmacy that pharmacists can head into. I wanted to tell you about some of the jobs that most people never hear about before they start school but are great opportunities for an aspiring PharmD to consider. 

Clinical Pharmacy: 

Clinical Pharmacists work in hospitals all across the nation. They work hand in hand with physicians, nurses, PAs and other healthcare professionals to care for patients. These pharmacists go on daily rounds in the hospital and evaluate patient's medication therapy. Often these patients need constant dose adjustments and medication changes and these pharmacists make sure the patient's medication needs are correctly being met. In many hospitals they are directly responsible for dosing and monitoring certain medications that can be dangerous to the patient if not done correctly. 

Managed Care Pharmacy:

Managed care is a great area for someone who loves pharmacy but also has a good mind for business. Managed care pharmacists review patient data, preform drug utilization reviews (reviews of appropriateness of medications and drug therapy), preform and review medication cost analysis studies, and often design patient care offerings for insurance companies.

Academia:

If education is your passion there are a lot of amazing opportunities in pharmacy. At PCOM our Pharmacy Practice professors work both at our school, teaching classes, and also at separate sites doing direct patient care. The students then often go to their sites on rotations and the teachers act as preceptors to the sites. It's a great opportunity to help shape a whole new generation of pharmacists. 

There are so many great opportunities for pharmacists in Georgia today. The head of the Georgia DEA and Georgia Poison Control are both pharmacists and there are countless places where pharmacists may find interesting, exciting work. If you have more questions just start doing research! You'll be amazed how many areas of pharmacy are open to you.

Katie

VIP Day

I wanted to update my last post with some pictures from GPhA VIP day at the Georgia Capitol.

These beautiful photos are all courtesy of my friend and fellow P2 Jis Joseph. Thank you Jis!

Can't wait for next year!

Katie

OSCEs

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

It's just a few days before our second term finals so right now I'm multitasking like a true pharmacy student. Today, while many of our classmates have gone to Georgia Pharmacy Association day at the capital I'm at home cleaning the house, writing this post, getting ready for a Valentine's Day date and studying for Infectious Disease. It's been a busy day and I still have lot's to do so I'll keep this short. I want to wish the first year students the best of luck with their upcoming OSCEs. OSCEs are practical finals for our lab classes where students have to present their ability to preform different tasks with patients. This term our first year students will be tested on some basic pharmacy tasks like counseling, teaching patients how to use their glucose meters and inhalers, and proper blood pressure techniques. These skills are incredibly important for a pharmacist to master and they will get lots of practice furthering these skills as they move forward in their rotations.

I'll leave you with a little Valentine's Day humor courtesy of my friend Melissa Cheung.

"Boy! I think I need to check your blood glucose, cause you're super sweet!"

"Did I take your breath away? Because I can counsel you on inhalers!"

Katie