Kristy Huynh is a final-year PharmD candidate, and Emily Lim is a third-year PharmD candidate, at the University of California, San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
When COVID-19 was declared a national emergency, student pharmacists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences APhA–ASP Chapter did not hesitate to find innovative ways to reach out to the community. Policy Vice President Monica Sliwa led this task by assisting elderly, underserved, and low-income residents of San Diego get essential items such as toiletries, medicine, groceries, etc. This program quickly grew, and Monica expanded this program with the assistance of the school of pharmacy and our chapter. APhA–ASP members did not hesitate to help, and the program was able to assist more than 500 community members in need.
It was the successful planning and execution of similar creative efforts that led our chapter to receive the 2019–20 APhA–ASP Innovating Programming Award at APhA2021.
Virtual outreach
Our school of pharmacy was also faced with the challenge of connecting the student body so that they could contribute to our outreach efforts, even though many of them had moved out of San Diego due to the pandemic. As an example, our 2019–20 Chapter President Steven Chen, organized a virtual food bank drive in collaboration with the San Diego Food Bank to raise funds and address the dire need of people dealing with food insecurity. This was especially important during a time when grocery store shelves were barren and basic necessities were scarce. Our chapter contributed $150 as an organization in addition to the many contributions by individual student pharmacists and volunteers.
Other virtual outreach programs included weekly informative COVID-19 posts on Facebook and Instagram, as well as the opportunity for student pharmacists to create educational COVID-19 videos, which were made publicly available on a local independent pharmacy's website. Additionally, our Operation Immunization chair recruited student pharmacists to lead a presentation to teach UCSD undergraduate students about the similarities and differences of flu, common cold, and COVID-19 symptoms.
A community comes together
The pandemic has changed everyone's “normal” and “everyday” routines. The shift to virtual learning and social distancing changed how students could provide services. However, amid these changes students and pharmacists were able to adapt and find ways to reach out to those in need.
During this time, we were able to see how one idea from a student could have such an impact on the community. The helping hands of other organizations, including the San Diego Society of Health-System Pharmacists, California Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the school of pharmacy, UCSD Free Clinic, and the National Arab American Medical Association brought together a community of individuals with a passion and drive for helping the community.
Our chapter is very grateful to be recognized with this award. We are proud to represent UCSD, and we will continue to strive for excellence.