Gatton College of Pharmacy student, fellow earn prestigious national scholarships

JOHNSON CITY A student and a research fellow in East Tennessee State Universitys Gatton College of Pharmacy recently returned from a trip to Nashville where they participated in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacys annual meeting and related activities. 

Irene Abia, a fourth-year student pharmacist, and Dr. KariLynn Dowling, a post-graduate research fellow, are among just 85 individuals across the nation to receive the 2017 AACP Walmart Scholar Program scholarship that allowed them to attend the events on July 15-19 in Nashville with their faculty mentors.

The program aims to strengthen participants skills and commitment to a career in academic pharmacy in order to ensure there are an adequate number of well-prepared individuals who aspire to join the faculties of expanding programs across the country. 

I am grateful to AACP and Walmart for providing me with such a great platform to network with some of the inspiring leaders in the profession of pharmacy whose articles and text books I have read over the years, said Abia, who was joined at the meetings by her mentor, Dr. Adam Welch, associate dean for Assessment and Academic Affairs at the Gatton College of Pharmacy. During the Teachers Seminar, I learned about unique ways to incorporate active learning into lectures in order to enhance students understanding of fundamental pharmacotherapy concepts.

For Dowling, the experience was an immersion in the world of academic pharmacy that helped me confirm this is the path I want to take for my career.

One of my career goals is to change how pharmacy students are taught about drug abuse and addiction, and therefore improve how pharmacists interact with people struggling with addiction, Dowling said. At AACP, I learned about teaching strategies and research techniques that I will put to use. I came away with pages of notes and feeling energized about my career.

Dowlings faculty mentor, Dr. Nick Hagemeier, an associate professor of Pharmacy Practice, was a Walmart Scholar when he was in graduate school.

I distinctly remember my experience, he said. The program enabled me to attend a meeting I otherwise would not have been able to attend. More importantly, it enabled me to network with folks who have become my friends, colleagues and mentors. I am grateful Irene and KariLynn were afforded this experience.

As part of the program, each student was awarded a $1,000 travel scholarship.