Learning compassionate care, UF pharmacy students become ‘community champions’ in Florida neighborhoods
Becoming a skilled pharmacist is about more than learning to treat diseases with medication; it’s about compassionately caring for people — often people in underserved communities.
That’s why students at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy now go beyond the classroom and into neighborhoods throughout the state to complete their studies. It’s where the people are, and it’s where pharmacy students can get firsthand experience in serving Florida’s patients.
“As pharmacists, we are the most accessible health care workers,” said Chardaè Whitner, Pharm.D., a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy education and practice and the college’s director of community engagement. “We want our students to recognize that being a pharmacist requires more than being a medication expert; it also requires being a community champion and recognizing what you give to your patients beyond just medication expertise.”
To that end, Whitner helped spearhead a program last fall to weave community engagement requirements into the Pharm.D. curriculum. Students need to complete two hours of community engagement work in a historically underserved community each semester for their first three years of didactic training.