Pharmacy Students: Voices for Health Care's Future

All great pharmacists begin their journey in pharmacy school, but with today’s students already taking the lead as tomorrow’s health care providers, it is important to recognize the significant role that they can play in shaping the profession.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, more than 63,000 students were enrolled in US-based schools of pharmacy in the fall of 2017.¹ It is inspiring to see so many individuals pursuing a career in such an essential field, and indeed, what student pharmacists may lack in experience they make up for in passion for advancing pharmacy and improving health. Not only are they working hard in the classroom to acquire the knowledge and skills that they will need to succeed, they are also advocating for provider status on Capitol Hill, assisting pharmacists during rotations, coauthoring research papers, and volunteering at clinics in underprivileged communities at home and abroad. Just as importantly, students have been preparing themselves for a profession that they know is rapidly changing, giving them a crucial perspective that can help others navigate the shifting pharmacy landscape.

In an effort to empower student pharmacists, Pharmacy Times^® earlier this year launched Student Voices, a series of articles and videos that brings student insights to the forefront of the health care conversation. Students who wish to participate should reach out to our editorial staff with their ideas for articles and other contributions, which could be published online or in future issues of Pharmacy Careers^®. We also encourage pharmacy students to express themselves on social media using #PharmacyStudentVoices. Students are key to pharmacy’s evolution, and we hope that this iniative will provide them with a platform from which they can share their thoughts, tell their stories, and let their voices be heard.

To help student pharmacists in their academic and professional pursuits, this issue of Pharmacy Careers^® contains resources on post-graduate opportunities, potential careers paths, and more, as well as a important exploration of women in pharmacy leadership and several articles from our Student Voices series. Ultimately, students are the future of pharmacy, and we are confident that both patients and the profession are safe in their hands.

Thank you for reading!

Reference

• American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Academic pharmacy’s vital statistics. aacp.org/article/academic-pharmacys-vital-statistics. Accessed September 1, 2018.