Three ETSU students from the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy have been accepted into the Paul Ambrose Scholars Program.
Third year students Rebecca Maloney, Chandler Parris and Nicholas Shields were among 40 scholars selected from applicants from universities across the U.S.
Students plan and implement a community-based project during their involvement with the program.
“I thought that it was really cool and exciting that ETSU had three students,” said Parris.
Parris’ project focuses on pediatric healthcare. Her aim is to provide resources for community pharmacies to answer questions they might receive from parents of pediatric patients, such as questions about antibiotics, medication and over-the-counter products. The project will also address childhood obesity and vaccinations.
“I knew I wanted to work with that population, and then I met with some different professors, and we identified some different things that I could do to address some gaps in the care for pediatric patients,” said Parris.
Maloney said she was excited to get to do her project and represent pharmacy as an Ambrose Scholar. Her project is an anti-mental health stigma campaign called “Stop Stigma.” Every month for the next year, she will release interviews with patients from the local community who have been impacted by mental illness, along with infographics providing mental health resources.
Shield’s project consists of screenings and interventions for alcohol use disorder in the Johnson City Community Health Clinic with Sarah Melton, professor of pharmacy practice.
The three scholars recently traveled to San Antonio, Texas, for a student leadership symposium, during which they got to meet the other scholars, develop their projects in groups and receive feedback. Parris said she enjoyed developing and putting into practice necessary skills within her field. Maloney said it was a great chance to work in professionalized teams. With a wide range of different professions, the three students were pleased to be representing ETSU pharmacy.
“I don’t know of many pharmacy students who get to go on and develop a public health project, so this was definitely a unique thing for us to get to do,” said Maloney.
Parris said something that ETSU does well is the focus it puts on interprofessional education, which she sees becoming the norm in the medical field.
“I think ETSU has been on the forefront of that,” said Parris. “We have the opportunity to work alongside nursing students and medical students, and I think that’s something that prepares us to be better pharmacists in the future and just healthcare providers in general.”
Parris encouraged other students interested in the program to go for it, due to the valuable experience of writing a project proposal and addressing needs within their community.
“You could really make a big impact with what you consider to be a smaller idea,” said Parris.
The Paul Ambrose Scholars Program is implemented by the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research and is aimed at advancing population-based and public health education, research and service by linking and supporting members from across the academic prevention community.
The program honors Paul Ambrose, who was senior clinical advisor in the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. He was killed onboard American Airlines flight 77 during 9/11.
