The USC College of Pharmacy hosted 14 students for a week in June as part of the Carolina Master Scholars Adventure series for Adventures in Pharmacy. Campers studied hypertension, diabetic monitoring, intravenous techniques, and experienced the pharmacy labs at the College of Pharmacy. Students also tried their hand at compounding to make several different types of dosage forms of medications.
Lanie West, Class of 2027, attended the Master Scholars camp before entering high school. She was interested in pharmacy then but was only aware of community pharmacy as a career option. During camp, she had the opportunity to meet professors and future mentors, talk with other pharmacy students and take part in the compounding lab.
“During interviews for the Gamecock Pharmacy Assurance pathway, I ran into Dr. Amy Grant again and immediately had a connection and fond memories of meeting her the first time. Camp activities such as counting prescriptions and compounding also solidified my interest in the field, as it incorporated a hands-on aspect to the camp and gave me a memento to take with me,” she says.
Touring the college, including the Palmetto Poison Center, the compounding lab, and the aseptic compounding lab also influenced her decision when it came time to apply to pharmacy programs.
Camp activities such as counting prescriptions and compounding solidified my interest in the field ... It was truly an amazing experience for me, and I look back on it very fondly.
Clinical Associate Professor Kathy Quarles Moore, lead instructor for Adventures in Pharmacy, looks forward to this week every year.
"There are so many facets to the field of pharmacy. High school students may not be aware of the expanded role of pharmacists or the vast opportunities in pharmacy before attending the summer camp," she says. "While here, they are exposed to industry, forensics, nuclear, poison control, hospital, community, clinical, and compounding pharmacy."
Quarles Moore notes that several students, like West, have decided to pursue pharmacy as a career after attending the camp.
"It is heartwarming to have students who participated in the camp return in the official Pharm.D. program. They have already been exposed to many faculty and staff members and are familiar with our college, which can be reassuring when entering a new program."
Celeste Caulder, associate professor and overall pharmacy residency coordinator at Prisma Health Richland, volunteers to lead the in-patient hospital pharmacy section for the summer camp. She notes that high school students who want to pursue a career in the medical field are not always aware of pharmacy as an option.
“Campers learn how to work as pharmacists in many areas of pharmacy,” she says. “They even learn about various disease states, how the disease states are treated, and the role a pharmacist plays in caring for patients in the continuum of care.”
West says the friendships she made, the activities and tours, and the memories of the experience helped convince her to commit to pharmacy and to attend the USC College of Pharmacy.
“It was truly an amazing experience for me, and I look back on it very fondly.”
Topics: Is Pharmacy for Me?, Pre-Pharmacy, Pharm.D. Program