At the Cedarville University School of Pharmacy, we treat each other like a family, or a “pharmily” as we like to say. We teach each other, seek improvement, and spread loving care between the faculty and the students. You may be thinking, who would ever want to spend seven straight years studying for one career? Especially for a job where all you do is stand behind the counter and fill medications all day. But I’m here to tell you that the pharmacy career is far more than just filling medications.
Firstly, if the Lord calls, you answer! Like all other professions, pharmacy is a vocation used to serve the Kingdom and share the love of God through caring for others. It is an honor to be a trusted resource for the community and their healthcare needs.
Secondly, there is far more to the world of pharmacy than you may be aware! Pharmacists are medication experts – they know all the details about medications, how they work, what they are used for, what they interact with, and lifestyle changes to support you with your health goals. While doctors and nurses are at the forefront of healthcare, pharmacists are often behind the scenes and bring much-needed expertise and skills that contribute to great patient care.
The Program
The Cedarville University School of Pharmacy (CUSoP) program is an adventure from day 1. There are two major routes to earn your Doctor of Pharmacy degree: 1) obtain your Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) in undergrad and proceed to complete the PharmD program, or 2) obtain pre-requisite credit in undergrad and proceed to complete the PharmD program. As an undergraduate, you will be expected to complete general education courses, such as Composition and Calculus, in addition to the basic science courses of General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biology. Once accepted into the graduate program, you will undergo three phases of learning:
Phase 1) Introductory Modules: Self Care, Medicinal Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmacokinetics/ Pharmacodynamics, Drug Information, and Lab. These courses focus on the backbone of pharmacy as you will learn about over-the-counter medications to recommend to patients, how the structure of a drug relates to how it works in the body, and how to make drug compounds (I still have my ChapStick from two years ago that I made in class!).
Phase 2) Therapeutic Modules: Cardiology, Respiratory, Infectious Disease, Endocrine, and more. These courses go deeper into specific disease states and how to holistically treat patients with these conditions, using clinical guidelines and evidence-based drug information resources.
Phase 3) Experiential (APPE) Year: The last year of the academic program will be focused on integrating your learning into practice. Each month the student is placed in a different area of pharmacy to implement their didactic training into real-life scenarios. These areas include community, hospital, ambulatory, and emergency medicine, along with electives of oncology, nuclear pharmacy, academia, and more.
In addition to academic learning and experiences, each pharmacy student is required to attend service events and a cross-cultural medical mission trip to encounter the diversity of patients and healthcare. Below you will see pictures of my recent trip to Georgia where we provided free health screenings to refugees in the Clarkston community as well as learned about multiple religions and cultures to gain a better perspective of the various patient populations.
The People
The highlight of the people in the CUSoP begins with our intelligent, passionate, and diverse faculty and staff! Each member of the CUSoP leadership team is committed to showing a Christlike attitude in their work, showing passion and love for students, excellence in their tasks and teachings, and revealing their unique personalities and backgrounds. It is expected of each professor to be knowledgeable in all areas of pharmacy, and especially experienced and well-informed in their specialty pharmacy area. In addition, each professor and staff member offers a loving, humble, and approachable behavior that allows students to be comfortable to speak their minds, ask questions, and seek professional and/or personal advice. The differing backgrounds of the leaders in this program provide various perspectives to match the learning styles for each student. The unique aspect of Cedarville University’s pharmacy program and administration is that they recognize there is room for improvement in any system, no matter how great, and they strive to make those improvements by listening to advisor and student feedback.
The students follow the behavior of the faculty/staff in exemplifying brilliance, excitement, and diversity. Those who enter the program are dedicated to learning, working hard, and getting educated. Students are expected to get high marks in all their courses to proceed to the next year of learning and experience. Without motivation you cannot move forward, and the students show this in their excitement to learn and love their patients in their practice of pharmacy. By a quick look at the pharmacy students, you can see that they come from a variety of countries and backgrounds. With the support of their professors, they demonstrate their unique upbringings in the way they learn and interact. An essential strategy to excel in the pharmacy program is to collaborate with your fellow peers as you learn and study to ensure that all material is understood. With each module and experience the students undergo with the support of their leaders and peers in the CUSoP program, they become exceptional pharmacists with Christlike compassion.
I hope that you can see the value of a pharmacist, how Cedarville University is training well-equipped Christ-following pharmacists, and that this motivates you to be a part of our pharmily too!
Year & Major: Pharmacy, Third-Year
Favorite Bible Verse: Psalm 4:7-8
Comfort Song: “Safe” by Phil Wickham
Tags: #pharmacyschool, #pharmily, #studies
Posted in: College Life, Education