Once again, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) was named Chapter of the Year at the organization’s 2014 National Conference, which was held in Arlington, VA July 18-21. This is the second consecutive win for this chapter. Many chapter achievements were recognized at this meeting. The chapter was awarded with the Cooper Excellence Award for the Large Chapter of the Year. Along with this achievement, the chapter received second place in the Scrapbook Competition, and in the Power to End Stroke: Reduce Your Risk Competition. These achievements helped SNPhA win $5,000 for their chapter.
UTHSC student pharmacists, Sheila Liddell (P4) and Samantha Adams (P4), were elected to national positions. Sheila will serve as SNPhA’s Public Relations Liaison, and Samantha will serve as the Corresponding Secretary. UTHSC student pharmacist, James Smith (P4) will serve as the Region II Facilitator. Individual achievements were awarded to UTHSC student pharmacists, Laken Bush (P2), Gerald Phillips (P2), and James Smith. Laken Bush and Gerald Phillips won second place in the Clinical Skills Competition, and James Smith was awarded the Rite Aid Community Leader of the Year.The Rite Aid Community Leader of the Year Award is given to a deserving student who shows great leadership, as well as makes a great impact on their community. James was interviewed by several Rite Aid pharmacists at the National Meeting, and they chose James as the most deserving candidate.
The UTHSC chapter, which has more than 243 members, reached over 15,000 patients in the past year. The powerful impact this chapter has on patients, allowed this chapter to take home second place in the Power to End Stroke: Reduce Your Risk Competition. This competition challenged SNPhA chapters to come up with creative and impactful events that focused on nutrition, physical activity, and smoking cessation. Some events held by this chapter this year were the 4-mile nutrition event, a women’s health event, “Pamper Me Pink”, and they partnered with ASP to host “Race for the Summit”.
SNPhA is an educational service association of pharmacy students who plan and execute programs to improve the health, education, and social environment in the community. The organization aims to develop leadership and professional skills in students, promote participation in national health care issues, increase the role and image of the minority health professional and educate communities on better health practices. “Our SNPhA students demonstrated high intellect, dedication, perseverance and determination; four traits that gave them the competitive advantage,” said Dr. Marie Chisholm-Burns, dean of the College of Pharmacy. “Their presentation highlighted the hard work they put into consistently achieving significant goals. The faculty and staff in the College of Pharmacy congratulate them on a job well done. We are so proud of them.”