Pharmacy Students Discuss Goals for Their Careers

Pharmacy Times spoke with students at the Idaho State University College of Pharmacy and its partner program at the University of Alaska Anchorage College of Health.

Liv Swonger, PharmD Candidate: So, I am graduating in May of 2023. And after graduation, I'd like to pursue a PGY1 and PGY2 to specialize in emergency medicine. I have a strong passion for LGBTQ+ health care, critical care, opioid stewardship, and the treatment of substance use disorders.

Jessica Goodman, PharmD Candidate: So, I'm hoping to complete a residency after I finish with school. I'm hoping to maybe be part of a clinic somewhere. But I've also kind of been thinking about looking into joining the Peace Corps or Doctors Without Borders or something like that, just because in my personal opinion, everyone deserves health care. It doesn't matter who you are, where you're born. I mean, it's not fair that some people will get sick, and then they can't do anything about it. So, yeah, I just want to find an underserved population that I can hopefully, really help a lot.

Kristen Morse, PharmD Candidate: Right now, it's kind of up in the air for me. I went in thinking, I know, I want to do oncology pharmacy, I have a strong passion for it. And after being in the program for 2 years, I've learned a lot and found passions I didn't think that I would find passions in. And I've done a lot of work with pharmacy practice advancement. I've helped make 19 standardized protocols for independent prescribing, and it's become a huge passion of mine. I could just talk about it all day long. Honestly, I just love it, just how much we can do. My professors and mentors, and just everyone at the college has given me so much support, and I want to try and be that person for somebody. Through my work and this support, it's made me think about a career in academia. I want to be able to help others learn how amazing pharmacy is [and] help them become amazing pharmacists, [help them] know why we're so important, and continue advocating for the profession and also continue to learn and better myself as well.