The UT Health Science Center College of Pharmacy has achieved a new milestone as the inaugural cohort of first-year PharmD students at the College’s Nashville and Knoxville locations have successfully completed their first year of studies. Previously, PharmD students were required to spend their first year on the Memphis campus before completing their studies at the respective other Tennessee campuses. However, in fall 2023, the college started offering first-year programming in Knoxville and Nashville. The expansion allows students to complete all four years of pharmacy education on the Nashville and Knoxville College of Pharmacy campuses, eliminating the need for many students to relocate after the first year.
Training pharmacists for four years across all three Tennessee campuses enables the college to promote healthier communities statewide. However, on a personal level, for first-year pharmacy students like Iman Haurami and Ethan Hathcock, the ability to take their first-year classes close to home allowed them to make a positive impact in their communities while training to be pharmacists.
Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital has significantly impacted Nashville native Iman Haurami, a first-year College of Pharmacy student at the Nashville Campus. As a child, she herself was a patient at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. This experience fostered a passion for pediatric medicine. After getting a job as a pharmacy technician at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, everything came full circle, “It means a lot to me to be able to give back and be working where I used to be a patient myself,” says Haurami.
Witnessing pharmacists’ impact on patients and families while working at the hospital helped nurture her interest in becoming a pharmacist. “I realized that I have a passion for pharmacy, and I didn’t realize that you could specialize as a pharmacist; there are so many areas that you can work in,” says Haurami. Attending the UT Health Science Center College of Pharmacy Nashville location for all four years has been a great opportunity for her. Not only has it allowed her to stay close to her family, but it has also allowed her to continue making a positive impact at the Vanderbilt Hospital. She is learning from some of the same pharmacists who once helped her as a child and who are now mentoring her as she pursues her pharmacy degree.
Ethan Hathcock, a P1 pharmacy student at the Knoxville Campus, grew up in Blount County, just outside Knoxville. Hathcock became interested in pharmacy after visiting a Pharmacy graduate program in North Carolina during his undergraduate program. “I think it was a higher being, it was God saying, this is where you need to be,” Hathcock says. Following undergraduate graduation, Hathcock obtained employment at a local pharmacy in Blount County, where he helped Medicare patients understand their medications better. Hathcock found it rewarding to help patients understand their medications, “what I was saying to them was going to benefit them in life in some way and potentially allow them to live a couple of years longer,” says Hathcock.
Hathcock, who had moved away from Knoxville for his undergraduate degree, was keen to move back home to become a pharmacist so he could start giving back to the community that raised him while in school. “UT Health Science Center allowed me to have the chance to come back home and save money. Being back in the community that I grew up in and being able to contribute is wonderful. I mean, this is where I wanted to be in the long term,” says Hathcock. “It’s also one of the best programs and most affordable Pharmacy colleges in the country.”
“It’s been a delight to add first-year students to our campus. Their presence brings fresh perspectives, energy, and enthusiasm to our campus and enables us to engage more fully with our surrounding communities in Middle Tennessee,” says Tracy Hagemann, PharmD, associate dean of the College of Pharmacy’s Nashville location. “They get to work with the local second and third-year students from the start to create meaningful connections on and off campus.”
Staying with a group of fellow students while pursuing a PharmD degree can have a transformative impact on one’s educational experience. Engaging with the same group of pharmacists for all four years fosters a strong sense of community, allowing students to learn from and support one another while gaining a deeper understanding of what it means to be a pharmacist. According to Hathcock, spending the entire day with the same people has helped them form a close-knit family, and the community around the Knoxville campus has been nothing but supportive. “The teachers and other students are always ready to lend a helping hand, and the school has fostered a culture of success and support,” says Hathcock. Similarly, Haurami has also had a positive experience, citing Nashville’s smaller class sizes as contributing to building a more tight-knit community. “The professors, students, and staff are all amazing, and I am grateful for the sense of belonging they have helped me cultivate,” says Haurami.
James Wheeler, PharmD, associate dean of the Knoxville campus, highlighted the impact UT Health Science Center College of Pharmacy provides. “By offering students opportunities to spend all four years on each of our three campuses, we generate statewide impact through advancing health throughout Tennessee,” says Dr. Wheeler. “Many, if not the majority, of our graduates remain in the state after completing their PharmD degree.”
Hathcock intends to remain in Knoxville after graduation but is still determining what to specialize in. He is interested in pursuing a career in academia and is applying for the dual PharmD and Master of Science in Instruction and Curriculum Leadership offered by the college. “All I am sure of at this point is that I want to give back to the community that helped lead me to where I am today,” says Hathcock.
Haurami wishes to pursue a career in pediatrics. She plans to continue working at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital after graduation, during her residency, and afterward. Haurami is particularly drawn to the Pediatrics residency offered at the hospital. “I really like the Pediatrics residency that they offer there,” says Haurami. “I have a running joke with one of the pharmacists there where I tell them my goal in life is to take their job.”