Brown Wins Gold with RESPy Award

Ms. Sax is a freelance writer based in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Jared Brown

This month's RESPy Award winner, Jared Brown, becameinterested in pharmacy because of the many avenuesthe profession offers. "There are so many things youcan do with a pharmacy career," said Brown, a student at theUniversity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Collegeof Pharmacy. "You can be in education, retail, own your ownbusiness, work in a hospital, or as a lobbyist for the profession.The profession of pharmacy offers so many choices—I still donot know what direction I want to take."

Brown is enthusiastic about how the profession will enablehim to help others—something he has been focused on for along time. "Jared has a long history of participation in publicservice activities," said Charles K. Born, PhD, associate deanfor student affairs at the UAMS College of Pharmacy. "As anundergraduate, he participated in a medical mission trip to theUkraine, tutored first grade students in reading, and workedwith the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization."

Brown also has participated in a number of professionalactivities. "His greatest impact has been in the HeartburnAwareness Challenge, where he was vice chair of the projectfor 2006 and 2007," said Dr. Born. "In addition to schedulingsetup, volunteer coordination, and serving as a participant, healso trained his fellow students to screen participants for thedifferent types of heartburn." As a result, he was awarded theUAMS College of Pharmacy Patient Care Heartburn Award in2006 and 2007. "He was instrumental in our college receivingthe National Heartburn Awareness Challenge Award for bothyears," said Dr. Born.

About the School

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College ofPharmacy provides excellent education in a stimulating environment.Stephanie Gardner, PharmD, EdD, dean of the college,said that the school integrates superb pharmaceutical care withnationally and internationally recognized research. In a statementon the college?s Web site, she says, ?In order to achieve our mission,we apply innovative and proven educational methods to producepharmacists who possess the skills and knowledge they need to servetheir patients in an ethical and professional manner.? Based in LittleRock, the school provides medication therapy management care servicesthat are recognized locally and nationally as models of patientcare. The school also conducts competitive basic, clinical, and socialand administrative science research that translates into improvedpharmacy education, direct patient care, and public policy.

It was an experience Brown enjoyed. "I am very interestedin running health screening clinics," said Brown. "There is a lotof interaction between you and the patient, and no 2 patientsare the same. With heartburn,it is like a puzzle to find outwhy the patient is experiencingthose symptoms. I like thechallenge of finding the rightway to help that patient."

The drive to see more pa-tients and offer them moretesting led Brown to serve asjoint coordinator of a cooperativeeffort to train pharmacystudents to provide HIV testingand counseling at a localvolunteer health fair. "Workingwith a faculty member and the state Health Department, hewas able to convince 20 students and 3 faculty members todevote 8 hours a day for 3 days—during holiday break—to theprogram, so that they could become certified to administer theRapid Response Test and counsel patients about the results,"said Dr. Born. The service will be offered again at health fairs inthe 2008-2009 academic year.

Brown brought his enthusiasm for the pharmacy professionto a position as a camp counselor in the college's inauguralUAMS Pharmacy Summer Camp in 2007, where he was activein introducing high school students to the profession. "Thirtyeighthigh school students attended, and Jared spent everywaking moment with the students, accompanying them onfield trips to practice sites," said Dr. Born. "He assisted them asthey did compounding in our laboratories and taught studentshow to check their blood pressure and blood glucose."

"It is great that these students were interested in the professionat such an early age," said Brown. "We took more studentsthis year than we expected for last year's camp, and this yearthere is talk of having 2 camps. We must be doing somethingright if there is that much of a positive response."

Brown couldn't be a more motivating spokesperson for theprofession. "I really enjoy helping students start their journey inthe profession," he said.