Megan Maetten is a third-year PharmD candidate at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Pharmacy, Columbia (MU) campus.
Prior to attending pharmacy school on a satellite campus, I had my doubts whether I could immerse myself in all the opportunities I could have had on the main campus. Involvement in the campus community brings a greater sense of belonging, and that’s something I have always valued. Now as a student pharmacist leader on a satellite campus, I have the opportunity to bridge the geographical and metaphorical gap between campuses. We truly are one school and one chapter, so playing to each campus culture’s strengths has made the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) School of Pharmacy’s APhA–ASP Chapter so successful.
As a student pharmacist on a satellite campus, here are some tips for a successful collaboration.
Adjust your mindset
Yes, there will come challenges with coordinating events and expectations across different campus cultures. Utilize this opportunity to improve your communication skills while still in a student pharmacist role. If you go into a leadership position closed off to expanding your network, you’ll have a harder time understanding different points of view.
Share resources
This can take form in multiple different ways. We share ideas and plans with campus counterparts and store the history in a shared Microsoft Teams channel. Sharing ideas and logistics ultimately makes event planning more efficient, meaning more events and more patients served throughout the state. As one chapter, we share the common goal of improving our campus and our communities.
Cross-campus meetings
One positive from the pandemic is that we are all comfortable with using Zoom. All members across campuses can get exposed to the same guest speakers and opportunities at our joint general meetings. To relieve workload, campus leaders trust each site to be responsible for planning and executing a cross-campus general meeting throughout the year.
Regular communication
It is imperative to have meetings already set in place. Student pharmacists and faculty are busy, so having a shared calendar and meetings already in place allows for frequent check-ins and proactively ensures everyone is on the same page. Regular communication also gets you familiar with student pharmacists on other campuses, and I am so thankful for my position with APhA–ASP because I could get to know my peers in ways I never would’ve been able to before.
Lean on your mentors
APhA–ASP Chapter advisors, faculty advisors, and previous student leaders are more likely than not going to offer valuable advice. Take this advice, write it down, and add to it throughout your experience. This guidance will be able to translate in your future endeavors.