Thursday, May 2, 2013

Learning through Service

One of my most valued experiences from my first year of pharmacy school has been my participation in the organization, Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SSHP) in Lunch and Learn Presentations to the community. The Lunch and Learn Presentations allowed me to practice my presentation skills as well as interact with members of the public. I presented on safety concerns of OTC NSAIDS and acetaminophen and presenting on this information forced me to become an ‘expert in this area’. When teaching information, I am able to come away with much more knowledge than simply being a passive participant. The people we presented to had little background in healthcare and it was a great chance for me to being portraying information in a manner that is accessible to people of all knowledge bases.

Additionally, the sessions were organized by P3 students and a PGY1 resident. All of these people served as excellent role models in patient interaction. As a P1 student, I found these experiences as a way to understand where I stand with my own knowledge base, where I will eventually be in a couple years down the road and the things I need to do to get there. Taking initiative and participating in service based events is a great way to expand your knowledge base as well as a great opportunity to interact with members of the community and demonstrate the value of pharmacists. I hope to serve as a role model to younger students in the future by continuing to be involved with service events and building my basis of clinical knowledge.

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