ETSU’s ACCP Clinical Pharmacy Challenge team tops in Tennessee, nation

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 21, 2021)—A team of student pharmacists at East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy recently demonstrated state and national success in an academic competition that included over 100 other pharmacy school teams across the country.

Gatton College of Pharmacy’s team competed in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s (ACCP) Clinical Pharmacy Challenge, a “quiz bowl” format held virtually this year due to the pandemic, and they progressed to among the top eight teams in the nation, the only team in Tennessee to advance to the top 8. Since the college’s founding in 2005, Gatton College of Pharmacy is one of only two colleges of pharmacy in the country who have won the competition twice.

“We are extremely proud of this year’s team and all that they have accomplished,” said Dean Debbie Byrd. “Yet again, our student pharmacists have proven that they excel on the national stage when up against the very best pharmacy schools in the country, many of which have been around much longer than Gatton College of Pharmacy.”

The team included Kaitlyn Phillips ('22), captain; Morgan Thomas ('23); and Gabe Thompson ('22). Dr. Kelly Covert, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, served as coach of the college’s team.

“I genuinely attribute our team’s success to the years of preparation our faculty instilled in us,” said Phillips. “They gave us the tools, knowledge and study skills we needed to be successful not just in the competition but also for our careers. There was no way to learn what we were asked immediately leading up to the competition— it was years of quality education.”

The ACCP Clinical Pharmacy Challenge consists of questions offered in three segments including trivia, clinical case and Jeopardy-style, the content of which was developed and reviewed by an expert panel of clinical pharmacy practitioners and educators.

“We truly worked hard because we took pride in representing the school we love so much on the national level,” said Phillips.

Gatton College of Pharmacy was founded in 2005 by the community to train student pharmacists in order to fill a health care need in the region. Over the last decade, the college has grown and matured to a national presence and enrolled high-quality students from across the country. The college’s faculty, student pharmacists and student organizations are the proud recipients of national awards and accolades for service, scholastic achievement and clinical training. Learn more at www.etsu.edu/pharmacy.