College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists Feature

The College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) Purdue is part of a national organization centered on pharmacists that help manage psychiatric and neurologic disorders. CPNP Purdue serves to create awareness and engage pharmacy students in these topics, intending to guide pharmacy students to comfortability in conversations surrounding mental health, substance use disorder, and other psychiatric focuses. “Pharmacy students should join CPNP because every pharmacist is going to be interacting with someone that suffers from a mental health or substance use disorder at some point in their careers,” says Fatima Khan, president of Purdue’s chapter.

CPNP provides hands-on experiences for members to learn more about psychiatric and neurologic disorders outside of the classroom. Members will gain more confidence in entering the workforce and caring for their patients. The skills made in CPNP translate to academic success, including time management, leadership, and foundational knowledge about psychiatric pharmacy.

Fatima wants new students to “join organizations early and try to find a couple you’re passionate about.” Student organizations, especially CPNP, help students grow both personally and professionally and are equally as important as classroom learning. “Being a part of CPNP has helped me gain a better understanding of my career options as a psychiatric pharmacist and shown me different avenues I can pursue,” Fatima says.