What You Haven't Heard Yet

I can remember feeling out of place and right where I need to be – all at the same time. I can remember sitting in Therapeutics waiting for a topic to speak to me because everyone else seemed to know what they liked. I can remember professor after professor talk about clinical pharmacy but not really knowing what it meant. I can remember trying to find my place, my people, and my notes. I can remember feeling desperate for a mentor; someone to help me figure out what to do next. I can remember insignificant moments feeling enormous, like bad grades. I can remember powerful moments feeling routine, like patient demise. You see, after all of the quizzes and rotations and interviews, all we have is our memories and what we learned from them. I decided to use my stories in my career by sharing as much as I can with students I’ve encountered.

What I see are students feeling the push and pull of the altruistic and precarious PharmD. I see faculty and preceptors who don’t have the time or the bandwidth to share their memories and stories. What I’ve discovered is that I wanted to dedicate my career to helping students make the most of pharmacy school and beyond. It starts by saying: It’s ok to be proud and scared. It’s ok to not have a tribe. It’s ok to feel vulnerable inside of a thick white coat. It’s ok to eat pancakes after a big test. It’s ok to cry in your car. It’s ok be yourself.

I’ve taught in big lecture halls, small classrooms, in fancy clinics and poor hospitals. In those places I’ve precepted hundreds of students and residents. I’ve worked with students who have lost loved ones, failed courses, and repeated rotations. I’ve worked with students who’ve cried tears of joy and tears of sadness, those who matched with their first choice for residency, and those who didn’t get a single interview. I’ve worked with students who were the first in their family to go to college, who were single parents, and who were parents of 3. I’ve worked with students who had babies during pharmacy school, students who commuted one hour each way, students who had substance abuse problems, weight problems, sleep problems, time management problems, and relationship problems. I’ve helped students work through competitiveness, perfectionism, low self-esteem, and over-achiever issues.

All these students have crossed my path and I want you to know there’s a reason for that. It allows me to see you and I want you to know I’ve got your back. You’re not alone. My mission is to help the next generation of pharmacists through personal and professional development, whatever piece of that speaks to you right now.

I’ve come to learn that success is not just dictated by the things we learn in the classroom; you also need other tools. These tools are ONLY found outside of the classroom and usually discovered deep inside you. I’m going to write and speak and share what I know.

If you want to learn more about yourself, if you’ve been looking for something different to get you motivated, or if you were like me, and wished there was a safe place to go to ask questions, then take this journey with me. Tell me when I’m right on and tell me when I’m not. Watch me fall and watch me try again.

Show up and tell me all about you. I’m here to serve you and I will bring it each time. Come back for what you haven’t heard yet.

What questions do YOU have about how to make the most out of pharmacy school?

Comment below or here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdSCBPO7nyqEJwFwqMDOQlRdL78uOHsc4MGDieflg6l47xvFw/viewform?usp=sf_link