Building a sense of community
Kaitlyn Zbylut is a final-year PharmD candidate at The University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy.
When I started as a student pharmacist, I knew that I wanted to get involved in organizations. But being an introvert, I tended to shy away as they seemed daunting. After a short time, I decided to dip my toe in the water to see if any organizations would invite me in. When the chapter president and president-elect mentioned that there was a home in APhA–ASP for everyone at The University of New Mexico, I decided to join the academy first. I soon joined other organizations, as the sense of community was welcoming.
In APhA–ASP, I felt I could hone my skills to help me in my future practice as a pharmacist. This sense of community allowed me to blossom into the leader and student pharmacist that I am today. When my fellow Lobo and APhA–ASP National President Miranda Montoya announced her presidential theme for this year, I thought it resembled my journey perfectly, and will continue to inspire my journey as I transition from student pharmacist to licensed pharmacist. “Each of Us for All of Us” to me is about how participating in patient-centered events, building a sense of community among pharmacists, and giving support to each other can lead to massive outreach for the betterment of our community.
Living the theme while on APPEs
By each of us striving to provide excellent patient care or advocating for our profession, we can continue to work toward provider status and an overall healthier country. As I am a final-year student pharmacist on APPE rotations, I may not have as many collaborations with student pharmacists as I did during my first 3 years of pharmacy school, but I can still implement this encouraging presidential theme by collaborating with other medical professionals and providing recommendations during rounds to providers for the betterment of our patient.
This helps demonstrate the value of the pharmacist on interprofessional teams, which is something I strive to continue.
A team effort
Our APhA–ASP Chapter has provided me with a sense of community, and showed the importance of outreach and advocating for the profession, especially in some of the more rural locations in New Mexico. Our chapter continues to advocate and demonstrate the need for pharmacists in every health care setting as we reach a multitude of patient populations across the state through the screenings and education that we provide.
While I am one person striving for a healthier patient population and advocating for the profession, I know that there are multiple other student pharmacists like me, and with “Each of Us” we can provide the best care for “All of Us.”