Phi Lambda Sigma honors the School of Pharmacy’s student chapter for preparing future pharmacists for inclusive practice
Navigating the healthcare system is challenging for anyone. For rural, disabled, and low-income patients, those challenges can be profound. As widely accessible members of the healthcare team, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to help, but only if they understand what their patients are up against.
At the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy, a student organization is making sure that future pharmacists are ready to meet patients where they are.
The School of Pharmacy’s Beta Alpha chapter of Phi Lambda Sigma (also called the Pharmacy Leadership Society) has spent several years building a student-led event for future pharmacists, faculty, and staff to have open conversations about what inclusive care looks like. This year, that work earned the chapter its third Leading the Way Award from the national organization.
“These students are truly leaders in this space and preparing their peers to provide high quality, inclusive care.”
–Emma Hickmann
Last year, Beta Alpha earned two PLS awards — one for Transformational Change and one for Leadership Recognition. And for 2025, their Leading the Way Award is for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
“I am incredibly impressed by the consistent excellence and achievement of our students within PLS,” says Teaching Faculty Emma Hickmann (PharmD ’22), the group’s faculty advisor. “These students are truly leaders in this space and preparing their peers to provide high quality, inclusive care.”
Bridging inclusive conversations
At the center of this award is DiveRxsity Dialogues, a student-led initiative open to students, faculty, and staff at the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy that explores how identity and lived experiences affect healthcare access and inclusive patient care.
The annual event started in 2023 following the group’s win of the PLS Charles Thomas Leadership Challenge Award. It has since grown into one of the chapter’s most impactful initiatives — doubling in both participation and influence in just three years.
DiveRxsity Dialogues is a three-hour seminar, beginning this year with a compelling keynote speech by Fernie Rodriguez, associate vice chancellor for student affairs at UW–Madison. Rodriguez spoke about their journey navigating their healthcare throughout the U.S. as a transgender individual from El Paso, Texas.
“I think that was very impactful for a lot of students who attended,” says Emily Phillips (PharmD ’26), who was president of PLS in the award-winning 2024–25 academic year.
Afterward, attendees chose breakout sessions exploring disparities across patient populations, with topics ranging from weight bias to disability care, and then reconnected for reflection as a group at the end.
“They planned and delivered a highly impactful event with speakers representing care for a variety of patients,” says Hickmann.
Feedback from prior years showed that students wished they’d been able to hear more from peers about the other breakout sessions, so new this year, the leadership team enhanced the reflection session at the very end of the event, utilizing sticky notes to encourage deeper conversations that allowed all perspectives to be heard.
“Our speakers and breakout leaders were able to speak on how we can be more inclusive pharmacists and inclusive providers,” says Phillips. “Having the chance to reflect on that was impactful for our students.”
Expanding the dialogue
As DiveRxsity Dialogues has continued to evolve, its student leaders have worked to expand the event beyond PLS itself.
The chapter partnered with student organizations such as PRIDE in Pharmacy and the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) to bring a wider range of perspectives into the discussions.
“It was a wonderful learning opportunity for students, faculty, and the greater health sciences community to discuss healthcare access,” says Hickmann.
This year, under the leadership of PLS president Sean Moran, fourth-year PharmD student, the group applied for and received further grants from PLS to expand participation beyond even the School of Pharmacy.
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Additional funding gave us the direction to open up to the other health science schools at UW–Madison,” says Moran. For the next DiveRxsity Dialogues, the group plans to invite UW–Madison students across nursing, medicine, public health, veterinary medicine, and other health sciences programs.
This collaborative effort began attracting attention beyond campus, too.
After consecutively presenting DiveRxsity Dialogues at Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin (PSW) Educational Conferences, both Phillips and Moran saw the potential to grow the event among practitioners.
“When I presented on this at the PSW Educational Conference, there were a lot of pharmacists who are very interested in the event for possible continuing education or pharmacist attendance,” says Phillips. “There could be opportunities to expand it to pharmacists, which could lead to stronger funding, too.”
Continuing the conversation
Looking ahead, PLS’s leaders hope to continue expanding DiveRxsity Dialogues and creating new opportunities for collaboration and conversation across the health sciences community.
Moran and his executive board recently introduced a new programming and events committee and are optimistic about possible collaborations with PSW to continue growing the event’s reach.
For both Phillips and Moran, stepping into leadership for initiatives like DiveRxsity Dialogues through PLS has shaped the way they approach leadership, teamwork, and patient care.
“This has felt like a transition into my career, and allowing me to use a lot of the skills that I have into being a more effective leader,” says Moran. “I’m really looking forward to the projects I can be involved in throughout my pharmacy career, applying all the things that I’ve learned as PLS president.”
Phillips, too, says her work with PLS has shaped her next steps and helped her become a competitive candidate.
“Being able to work with people with diverse perspectives really helped me ground my own leadership philosophy,” says Phillips, who is beginning a residency this summer at the Ohio State University, a decision heavily influenced by her experience with PLS.
“Year after year, we’re really motivated to push ourselves hard so that we can continue this impact we have.”
–Sean Moran
She says that this chapter’s success reflects the individuals behind each event: those that were willing to show up, both to learn and educate.
“All of our participants were so engaged with the event and took it seriously,” says Phillips. “These great discussions and this national award wouldn’t be possible without all of our participants.”
Also nominated for a fourth Leading the Way Award and as well as Chapter of the Year this year, the group aims to keep the momentum going.
“It’s a testament to the dedication of our students in the organization, and what we’re willing to take on while also being pharmacy students,” says Moran. “Year after year, we’re really motivated to push ourselves hard so that we can continue this impact we have.”
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