5/2/2023

University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy - Chicago Campus

Chicago, IL

Project Description

Our SSHP chapter recognized that in order to promote greater involvement across a spectrum of different health-system pharmacy careers, we had to provide students with an opportunity to learn about these experiences first-hand. Our organization felt that weekly class emails of job offerings did not effectively communicate what these positions may offer students in terms of their own professional development and potential impact on patient care. In December 2021, we hosted our chapter’s annual “ICHP Internship/Externship Fair” which provided 49 P1 students an opportunity to network with a total of 20 student speakers currently working as hospital interns and externs throughout the Chicagoland area. Prospective students were free to visit any speaker’s table and learn about the role, responsibilities, and expectations of their respective position. This hour-long event not only provided our peers with job opportunities, but has also ensured that educating incoming pharmacy students on the wide variety of roles pharmacists play in the healthcare setting continues. Our chapter aims to invoke a drive in our peers to seek out opportunities that expose them early on to direct patient care by allowing them to hear first-hand about what it means to work in such a setting.

Which ASHP Strategic Plan priority and goal(s) did the project support? Please list all.

Maintain a High Level of Member Satisfaction and Value Grow and Retain an Engaged Membership.

How did your SSHP Chapter promote the project?

Two weeks prior to the event, we distributed promotional flyers across both our own chapter’s and school’s various social media platforms. We also submitted the event through the school and leadership/honor fraternities for approval which would allow attendees to receive credit. Since the event is aimed at the P1 class, we also had our P1 Liaison promote the event through their personal class page. Most importantly, we strategically host this event prior to student applications for Chicagoland hospitals being released which ensures students are able to speak with current interns/externs prior to applying and interviews.

Did you include any outside guest to complete this event?

Our event relied on recruiting current P2/P3/P4 students working as hospital interns and externs throughout the Chicagoland area to speak. A total of 20 different speakers were recruited from UI Health (positions included ambulatory care, inpatient, drug information), Rush University Medical Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Jesse Brown VA (positions included outpatient, inpatient, VALOR interns), Advocate Medical Centers, and Lurie’s Children’s Hospital. Each of our unique speakers was selected based on their strong drive to deliver optimal patient care and commitment to their own professional development outside of the classroom, which is what drove them to seek out their current positions.

What advice would you have for SSHP's attempting to replicate the project your described?

The success of implementing a similar event relies immensely on planning well in advance. Coordinating such a large number of people to speak and ensuring good attendance requires early outreach to eliminate the possibility of any scheduling conflicts. Additionally, the goal should be to plan to hold the event prior to the release of any student applications for hospital positions. This requires contacting students in these positions to gauge whether or not their location will be hiring and if so, when the applications will be released.

Additional commentary regarding your event

As a student chapter of ASHP, it is our responsibility to provide opportunities and resources for our peers aimed at facilitating their professional development. Ensuring pharmacy students maximize their leadership skills and abilities prior to entering the workforce requires student engagement early on in their pharmacy school career. This way we can ensure that with the support of our student chapters, the new generation of pharmacists continue to have a strong commitment to delivering optimal patient care with the goal of advancing pharmacy practice.

SSHP Leadership