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Transitions Magazine

Transitions is published bi-monthly for members of the APhA New Practitioner Network. The online newsletter contains information focused on life inside and outside pharmacy practice, providing guidance on various areas of professional, personal, and practice development. Each issue includes in-depth articles on such topics as personal financial management, innovative practice sites, career profiles, career development tools, residency and postgraduate programs, and more.

A party for the children
Jamila Negatu
/ Categories: Student Magazine

A party for the children

“One day when parents and siblings can all gather together for one giant holiday party at no cost.”

Think of your childhood for a moment. Remember all of those family vacations, club soccer games, and endless trips to the playground? Think of how much those happy memories shaped you into the person you are today. These memories probably had a huge influence on your life and could have easily had an impact on your decisions regarding pharmacy school. Now imagine that all being stripped away from you because of cancer. 

Imagine being a parent of a child with leukemia or lymphoma. Imagine every year since your child was diagnosed, your child has looked forward to 1 day out of the entire year when they can celebrate just being a kid. One day when they can be with other kids dealing with the same type of illness they have. One day when parents and siblings can all gather together for one giant holiday party at no cost. Presents are provided for all the children, kids and parents are dancing without being crammed in a hospital room, craft activities are provided and engaging for the children of all ages, and special time is given to provide a lunch for all the families. Even Disney princesses and Santa’s helpers join the festivities for an afternoon. Now, just imagine how in the world this event can be funded so that affected families in the greater northeastern Kansas area can be invited to participate.  
 
For the last 8 years, the University of Kansas (KU) School of Pharmacy has partnered with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) in an attempt to fully fund this annual holiday party. We set an ambitious goal to raise $20,000 in 2017. Choosing to continue with our tradition of throwing a fundraising party, we got to work early this past summer to plan the 2017 KU School of Pharmacy Annual Barn Party, a benefit to fully fund the holiday party. 
 
 

A labor of love

I was one of the students chosen to be in charge of the fifth annual Barn Party, held in October. I had been a part of many fundraising activities in the past, so my expectation was that this would be no different. Boy, was I surprised at the challenges that were presented to me! 
 
We planned multiple events throughout the semester and worked diligently to gather funds from friends, family, faculty, fellow students, corporations, and small businesses. We had numerous businesses donate gift baskets for a silent auction and a drawing. When the event day arrived, the house was packed with Western-clad party goers. The participants enjoyed an evening of laughter, dancing, and fellowship with others who also felt the Barn Party was a truly worthy cause.
 
When we totaled the proceeds, and all the Barn Party expenses were accounted for, more than $20,000 was raised so that the children and affected families would be able to participate in the 2017 LLS Holiday Party (held December 10)—and our final in-kind total was greater than $27,000, the most we had ever raised!  
 

Take a step back

I think that, as a student pharmacist with such a rigorous school schedule, it is simple to forget why you do what you do. But you can’t forget your patients. They are people just like you and me. Anyone can be diagnosed with a life-threatening disease tomorrow, and as a future health provider, you cannot forget about your patients’ emotional state as well as physical. 
 
You can get caught up in the late nights of studying the hundreds of medication names, physiological pathways, and adverse effects of every single medication. But why did you sign up for this in the first place? Hopefully, it was to improve the health and lives of the people around you. So from one student pharmacist to another, take a step back for a moment. Think of your future patients and even your current ones: are you committing all of your time and energy to improve their quality of health—and not just physical health—now? 
 
I know it’s scary to commit time to other activities because your time is so precious, but as someone who committed hundreds of hours for this holiday party for children with cancer, I urge you to commit to excellence and serve patients well in all aspects of their lives. 
 

Angela Fitch is a second-year PharmD candidate at the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy.

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