JOHNSON CITY – Earning a Doctor of Pharmacy degree is a heavy lift for most student pharmacists, but East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy second-year student Brie Levy’s strength goes well beyond the classroom.
Levy, from Chattanooga, was recently named a World Powerlifting Champion in three categories for her weight class – bench press, deadlift and squat – while competing with Team USA in the International Powerlifting League Drug Tested Worlds in Surfers Paradise, Australia. In addition, she broke eight world records, six national records and eight Tennessee records.
“It is really cool knowing that I have world records and am the best in the world for those lifts,” Levy said about her wins. “I think the best part of it is being able to hold some of the non-drug-tested records being a drug-tested lifter. I think this is a huge accomplishment and a testament to my hard work and dedication to the sport.”
Her world record results were: 496 lbs. squat, 281 lbs. bench press, 487 lbs. deadlift and 1,264 lbs. total.
But how does she do it all?
“It is definitely tough managing both the rigorous pharmacy school curriculum and
a rigorous train
Helping student pharmacists not “stress out as much” is a major focus of ETSU Gatton College of Pharmacy’s Wellbeing Program, which features a competitive house model in the style of the fictional Harry Potter series. It is designed to foster mentorship, student leadership, personal growth and physical wellness through a friendly, yearlong tournament.
This program is one of the first college of pharmacy programs of its kind in the world, patterned after the successful “learning community” model pioneered by the Vanderbilt School of Medicine.
“We are extremely proud of Brie’s tremendous accomplishments, both in the classroom and in powerlifting competitions,” said Dr. Debbie Byrd, dean of ETSU Gatton College of Pharmacy. “She represents the school incredibly well, and I look forward to seeing her continued success.”
For Levy, competition has always been important, and she pursued powerlifting after playing college softball.
“I still had a competitive drive that I needed to fulfill,” she said. “At the time, I was working at a gym, and being around the lifting community made me push myself to become stronger and stronger.”
Her bench press numbers were considered high for a female, Levy said, so others convinced her to try powerlifting.
“I honestly hated my first competition and didn’t plan on competing again,” she said, but a training partner convinced her to give it another go. “I enjoyed the experience way more and ended up falling in love with the sport.”
Levy has competed in a total of seven competitions since December 2020.
Ultimately, after she graduates, Levy hopes to use her pharmacy training to help the powerlifting world “educate lifters on safe medicinal and supplement use when it comes to training and performance.”
Gatton College of Pharmacy was founded in 2005 by the community to train student pharmacists in order to fill a need in the region. Since then, the college has grown and matured into a national presence and enrolled high-quality students from across the country. The college’s faculty, student pharmacists and student organizations are the recipients of national awards and accolades for service, scholastic achievement and clinical training. More information is available at etsu.edu/pharmacy.