The hard-working 2018-19 "COMM COMM" (from left): Mark Gilliam, Karishma Patel, Gillian Leung, Alex Grezaffi, and Douglas Tam.
By the 2018–19 APhA–ASP Communications Standing Committee
It’s 6:30 am. The alarm goes off, signaling the start of the day. In mere moments, blue light from the phone casts upon the face of the student pharmacist. Still on his side, the student pharmacist watches as streams of information and media scroll across the phone screen. There are 8 notifications, 1 friend request, 2 messages, 10 e-mails, 2 direct messages, 12 unread texts, 136 likes, and 22 retweets.
At 8:17 am, the student pharmacist waits for the lecture to begin. E-mails? Check. Texts? Up to date. What salad dressing are you? Where is your dream vacation spot? What dog breed are you? Wait, these three questions must be addressed! Sound familiar? Well, 10 out of 10 can relate.
Social media is changing and because of that, more information than ever before is now readily available at our fingertips. Social media pervades our daily lifestyle. It opens doors to conversations, shines a light on the newest practice guidelines, and engages us whether we realize it or not. For many, social media use is a recreational activity. For others, it is informational, educational, and even essential for professional business. Suffice to say, social media can be a powerful tool for student pharmacists, and it all begins with a proper understanding of how to leverage each media platform.
How you can benefit
By finding a balance between fun and professional, student pharmacists can greatly benefit from media sites such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
With the start of Instagram in 2010, photo sharing became a pastime for many student pharmacists. With an aesthetically pleasing grid layout, Instagram displays pictures from your college graduation, white coat ceremony, first-time donning scrubs in the I.V. room and highlights from blood pressure screenings, to birthday celebrations, moments from APhA meetings, and more. By being a follower, a friend can follow your journey from the first day of pharmacy school till the end, no matter how near or far. For those who have been active users of Instagram, you often find yourself mindlessly scrolling through the feeds and watching Instagram stories until something catches your eye. Pro Tip: Be sure to use the handy “highlight” tool to revisit and share your past stories. This could be a great resource for your chapter as you start a new semester and introduce yourself to new chapter members!
For short and sweet posts, there are the 280-character “tweets” of Twitter. Whether at a concert or a “pharmily” hangout, you can use a hashtag and “tweet out” on Twitter to share the funny moments at any occasion. Here are some of our favorite hashtags: #APhAASP, #CommComm, and #FearlesslyAuthentic.
To stay linked with your professional connections, there is LinkedIn. Geared toward professionals, this platform allows student pharmacists and pharmacists to build a profile showcasing work experience, accomplishments, publications, and awards. If you are looking for an internship, residency, fellowship, or job, you can even upload your CV in the description so your future employer can learn more about why you may be a great fit. By following health organizations such as the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, and following passionate medical professionals, you can often get news and clinical guideline updates on LinkedIn for better patient care. Take this one step further and share the updated guidelines on your personal profile; provide your professional insights and you will be amazed by the discussions that spark.
Whether you are looking for the latest event page or updates on your classmates’ job position, Facebook has the potential to serve as your one-stop shop for information sharing, event promotion, networking, and more. The large text box for unlimited characters, ample space for picture and video displaying, capability for document disseminating, and clean layout allow sharing of information beyond the photos from your vacation in the Bahamas. By following pages like FDA, NEJM Journal Watch, Medscape, and JAMA, student pharmacists can stay up-to-date on pharmacy and medical guidelines. Facebook provides a large audience to present information, like highlights from APhA and its three academies. For many student pharmacists, it has been the mainstay for showcasing local community achievements, fostering relationships with colleagues, and sharing information.
As pharmacists become more and more involved in patient care, there is also a new platform called Pharmacy Profiles, the nation’s first single source repository of the nation’s pharmacist providers, a subsidiary of APhA. By building a professional profile, you can put your licensure, advanced training, certifications, education, employment, awards, publications, and interest areas all in one place. Being an up and coming central hub for employers, health plans, and agencies to validate credentials and professional information about pharmacists, the platform also updates your credentials, offers streamlining, and allows pharmacists more time for patients.
Stay engaged with COMM COMM
This past year, it has been an honor serving as your 2018–19 APhA–ASP Communications Standing Committee. By leveraging the many social media platforms, we were able to engage with student pharmacists, applaud your accomplishments, and provide ideas by sharing spectacular chapter events from across the nation. By showcasing the newest opportunities available within APhA, piloting a clinical quiz series on Instagram, sharing clinical guideline updates on Facebook, and providing APhA2019 live updates on Twitter, we communicated with you, addressed your needs, and enriched your social media experience.
We hope you have all enjoyed our content and we look forward to seeing you continually engage with us on social media!