Julie Jeong is a final-year PharmD candidate at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.
Student pharmacists at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy regularly engage with the local community through in-person patient care outreach and philanthropy. Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic placed strict restrictions on our ability to organize patient care events such as flu clinics and patient education. The new virtual environment inspired us to brainstorm new ways to connect with the local community, especially through social media engagement and virtual platforms.
These innovative techniques led our chapter to receive the APhA–ASP Patient Care Award at APhA2022 in San Antonio this past March.
Virtual fundraising
Since we couldn’t hold in-person volunteering events, we held virtual fundraisers for local organizations instead. One of our greatest successes was the “Bingo” Instagram Story fundraiser. A Bingo template had individual spaces with various donation amounts and chapter members shared the template on their Instagram stories. The Bingo fundraisers ended up being so well-received that we continued to hold them throughout the year and raised more than $3,000!
Arts and crafts with the kids
We also continued to engage with patients through virtual patient care events. One event was a collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University Pediatric Unit in which student pharmacists created graphic instructions and how-to videos for different crafts like building teddy bears. For the arts and crafts session, each pediatric patient was supplied with a prepacked bag of all the craft materials they needed, and the infographics/video tutorials were provided for the children. This was a great way for children to exercise their creativity and boost their mental health.
Celebrating world health
Lastly, the chapter created a website in collaboration with Notre Dame of Maryland University in celebration of the World Health Organization’s World Immunization Week. The website helped the community learn more about various vaccines and local social resources during the COVID-19 pandemic and served as an alternative to in-person patient education and traditional flu clinics.
Keep the new ideas flowing
Having to be virtual was a challenge for many, but it was important to keep thinking of new ways to use social media to provide information. This allowed our members to still contribute to the community even though we couldn’t be there in person. In addition to engaging with our students online, we reached out to local organizations such as senior centers, hospital clinics, and local schools to compile a database for our committees—simplifying communication with our community partners.
When faced with a virtual environment, we encourage students to stay optimistic, try our ideas and keep thinking of new ways to get students involved and reach your communities!