The American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) presented its annual Patient Care Achievement Award to the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy at the American Pharmacists Association annual meeting in San Francisco, California, March 2017. The award recognizes the exemplary contribution of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy students in their commitment to patient care, education, and community outreach. The Pitt chapter received a plaque and a cash prize. Vice President of the Patient Care Committee, Lindsay Jablonsky (class of 2018) took the stage to accept the award. During the 2015-2016 reporting year, the patient care committee planned and implemented 92 separate events. The committee directly engaged close to 6,000 patients at said events and reached close to 200,000 patients through public relations outreach campaigns. Most impressively, however, was the fact that the committee saw a 432% increase in patients served over the previous year; a certain key to their success.
Left to right: PittPharmacy students class of 2018 members Julie Mandel, Marissa Badzik, Lindsay Jablonski, class of 2019 member Jessica Chmielinski, Justin Saver, class of 2018 and Kaitlyn Burkett, class of 2019. The patient care committee launched a successful social media campaign entitled “Facts about Faxx”, they successfully educated their peers across all schools and colleges in the University of Pittsburgh system about the HPV epidemic and immunization, they collected close to 450 pounds of unused and expired medications between two “drug take back” events during the school year, and also educated the community on topics related to diabetes, over the counter drug safety, and heart and cardiovascular health. In addition to winning the academy’s patient care award, the students of ASP also won the Region Two Operation Immunization award, beating out all of the other schools and colleges in the mid-Atlantic region.
