Dylan McWilliams is a third-year PharmD candidate at the Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy.
Being an exchange student can be difficult especially in a COVID-19 world, but the preparation and planning of the host site is rarely discussed. In 2022, the Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy learned of our match with 4 students. As the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) chair, I was ecstatic we would be hosting, and I quickly got to planning and navigating university logistics to ensure the exchange students would have a fulfilling experience.
Host site preparations
The first task to be completed was sending a welcome email along with some questions to get to know them better. I asked the students about their hometowns, any dietary restrictions, preferred pharmacy experiences (practice or research), contact information, etc. I wanted these students to feel welcome and comfortable.
Our exchange students came from all around the globe, so I wanted to do the best I could to make them feel as if they were at home. Yoo-Jung (Dana) was from Seoul, South Korea; Tjaša was from Ajdovščina, Slovenia; Clementine (Clem) from Savoie, France; and Justice from Owerri, Nigeria. All four were going to be in Ohio for the month of July, which allowed me to prepare a bit easier knowing they would all be together.
Once all the students replied, I created a WhatsApp group message with all of them to ensure that they had a direct way to contact me with any questions. (I decided to use WhatsApp as it is a more globally utilized communication app for all phones.) Looking back, I truly think that this group message helped these student pharmacists bond with each other before arriving to campus, so our chapter will continue this for future cohorts.
In addition to communicating with them, I conducted meetings with college and university administration to ensure everything was set for the students. Once I received the green light from the college, my goal was to tailor a schedule that promotes academic growth and education. For each student, I reviewed their preferences to create the schedules. Two students wanted an exchange based in pharmaceutical research, and the others wanted pharmacy practice. For the research students, I paired each with a research professor during their time here. For the rest, I provided ample pharmacy practice experiences: They shadowed our on-site community pharmacy, our telehealth pharmacy, our rural mobile clinic, and more. These students completed a medication information project involving a new medication recently approved by the European Medicines Agency.
Experiencing American culture
Ada is a small town in rural northwest Ohio, so I knew being here would be different; therefore, planning social activities was the main priority for the evenings. They were able to have dinner with professors; visit our dean and tour nearby Toledo, OH; and take an extended weekend to visit Chicago, among other special events. Being immersed in our culture is the other half to an exchange program, so this was important for me to organize these events.
My personal growth
Being the facilitator for the exchange students allowed me to grow not only as a student pharmacist, but as a leader. I’m truly grateful to have been the IPSF coordinator and I want to thank everyone for making this happen. Without the cooperation and assistance from everyone here at Ohio Northern University, I would not have provided a wonderful experience for the exchange students.