By Paige Haehlke

For the second year in a row, the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy’s PharmD students have earned a national recognition: They have been named the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists’ (APhA-ASP) National First Runner-Up for the Chapter Achievement Award in Division A for 2022–23, out of 46 Division A schools.

The Wisconsin Society of Pharmacy Students (WSPS), the School’s APhA-ASP chapter, is receiving this award in recognition of the professional development opportunities they host for student pharmacists, as well as the positive impact their outreach has had on their community. WSPS’s Operations — or focused outreach initiatives — hold events corresponding to their respective topic area, such as Operation Heart hosting blood pressure screenings at health fairs.

Out of an impressive 95 community and professional development events WSPS hosted in the 2022–23 year, nearly a quarter of them were new or innovative, having undergone substantial changes or expansions.

“The students are what makes WSPS so successful. It is their leadership, organization, innovation, and drive that has led to numerous awards and recognition year after year.”
—Andrea Porter

Positively impacting their community — particularly its medically underserved members — is motivating for the nearly 200 student pharmacists involved in WSPS’ Operations.

“One of the great initiatives that was started a year or so ago is trying to reach communities that have gaps or disparities in health care,” says fourth-year PharmD student Nora Pecha, 2023–24 WSPS secretary. “WSPS has tried to use its outreach and Operations to connect with those communities and provide them with care.”

In the midst of a busy schedule of courses, internships, and homework, finding the time to volunteer and seeing firsthand the positive outcomes of the organization’s efforts is rewarding.

“It is hard to make time to go volunteer, but when you do, it’s worth it to know that you’re helping someone or having experiences where you impact patients’ lives,” says fourth-year PharmD student Lauren Glaza, 2023–24 WSPS president. “It makes a lot of the leadership responsibilities very worth taking on.”

The multitude of ways that WSPS creates development opportunities for student pharmacists and gives back to the community is what sets them apart from other chapters and what earned the First Runner-Up Award, which is just the latest in a series of honors — adding up to more than 20 over the past seven years. Last year, WSPS Operations earned three regional APhA-ASP awards, and in 2022, in addition to First Runner-Up for the Best National Chapter (Division A), the group was named Second Runner-Up for Operation Substance Use Disorder.

“The students are what makes WSPS so successful. It is their leadership, organization, innovation, and drive that has led to numerous awards and recognition year after year,” says Andrea Porter (PharmD ’06), associate professor in the School’s Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research Division and WSPS faculty advisor. “Our students place an emphasis on caring for patients, have a passion for the profession of pharmacy, and want to make a difference in the world.”

Their continuous commitment to providing quality professional development opportunities for student pharmacists is another contributing factor to the group’s national recognition. In 2022, WSPS earned the Outstanding Professional Development Project award from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and the following year, received the APhA-ASP National Innovative Programming Award for their annual Conference on Conferences event, which provides an opportunity for student pharmacists to learn proper conference etiquette from pharmacy practitioners.

“What sets us apart is the way that we network within our community.”
—Nora Pecha

“What sets us apart is the way that we network within our community,” says Pecha. “We build relationships with high schools, elementary schools, and different health care systems to help educate community members and connect with different patient populations.”

While positively impacting their community, WSPS’s events also help student pharmacists put the skills they learn in class to practice through direct patient care, such as administering vaccines at vaccine clinics through Operation Immunization or screening community members’ blood pressure with Operation Heart.

“The School of Pharmacy teaches us that a pharmacist needs to be a leader,” says Glaza. “Having those skills is definitely preparing me for how to manage myself and how to work with others in the future.”