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The Pharmacy Alumni Association Board sponsored the fall 2008 "Conversations with Alumni". Once a month, an alumni or friend of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences visited campus and held an open and informal question and answer session with our PharmD students.
The semester of conversations was kicked off on September 29th by a visit from Winnie Landis. Ms. Landis gave students insight into her career as a diabetes care specialist, CVS pharmacist, and Immediate Past President of the American Pharmacists Association. She has also served on various other committees such as the Indiana Pharmacist Education Foundation Board, Past President of the Indiana Pharmacist Alliance, the Indiana Board of Pharmacy, and multiple positions in APhA. The open conversation format allowed students to freely discuss any topic of interest with Ms. Landis. She discussed regulatory, practice and professional involvement of pharmacists. Ms. Landis advised the students to get involved and take the initiative to move the practice forward. She also discussed internship possibilities with pharmacy organizations. Conversations with Alumni gave the students a networking opportunity with a distinguished alumnus, and introduced ways to get involved in the field of pharmacy.
The October Conversation brought Lafayette resident, Dr. Ed Langston to campus. Dr. Langston shared his wonderful story about completing pharmacy school and the influences his pharmacy professors had on his life and career. He told of his service in the military and how that led him to return to school and become a physician. Students were able to ask questions about Dr. Langston's career and his service as on the board of trustees for the American Medical Association.
In November, the Pharmacy Alumni Association was very pleased that a very loyal friend, Ed Sheridan was able to visit campus and share with our students his story in the area of Ambulatory Care. Ed brought with him his resident, Kierstan and his other clinical director is Angelina. Each of them discussed residency's and their experiences and responsibilities. Students were able to get a feel for working in a doctor's office as well as a good overview of a residency.
December marked the end of the semester and the end of the "Conversations with Alumni" for 2008. Stacy Evans and Andy Schmelz served on a young alumni panel for the final conversation of 2008 on December 2nd. Stacy currently works at CVS/pharmacy in Frankfort as the night pharmacist. She enjoys the ability to interact with both the patients and the medical staff at the emergency department. Andy is now completing a Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellowship with the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Purdue. In this position, his responsibilities include research, teaching, and practice in the ambulatory care setting. Upon completion of this fellowship in 2010, Andy hopes to continue practicing in the field of academia.
Stacy and Andy both graduated in May 2008 with their PharmD degree. They were able to give a brief description of their careers and how they got started in their careers. It was interesting to see how their career paths started. Students had the opportunity to ask questions about Stacy's and Andy's careers, rotations, NAPLEX exam and how their first months out of school have been.
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| Guest speaker Ed Sheridan with his resident, Kierstan and the other clinical director, Angelina. |
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Speakers Stacy Evans and Andy Schmelz with PharmD candidate Erin O'Neill |
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| Dr. Ed Langston answers questions from the group. |
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Winnie Landis poses with Jennifer McCauley, Erin O'Neill, Jane Krause and Dana Neary. |
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| Winnie talks about her career. |
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Students listen to the presentation on ambulatory care. |
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