PC3 Leads to Pursuing a PharmD

A global pandemic, a job that clicked, and a lucky break that let him explore the pharmacy profession all added up to a turning point that has led Caleb Knisley to pursue a PharmD degree.

Knisley was in his first year of college at Eastern Michigan University with plans to study computer science when COVID interrupted his studies. Opting to take a break from online courses, he pursued a job as a pharmacy technician at Meijer – a vocation that had surfaced as an affinity when he took career exploration tests in high school.

He found he really enjoyed the pharmacy setting and patient interaction. With encouragement from a pharmacist at work, he began taking prerequisite courses at Washtenaw Community College to position himself for a pharmacy degree.

Then, “with a little bit of luck, a coworker told me about the University of Michigan’s Pharmacy Community College Connect program,” Knisley recalls. Known as PC3, this five-week College of Pharmacy summer program offers an immersive introduction to pharmacy education, research, and careers. Tribal and community college students selected to participate take math and science courses, learn from speakers, shadow researchers and practitioners, and visit different pharmacy settings ranging from hospitals to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lab. 

“PC3 felt like it was made for me,” he says. “It solidified my interest and showed me that pharmacy was something I could see myself going into.” With bolstered confidence that he was on the right path, Knisley applied to the College and is now in the first year (P1) of his PharmD program — and he is the first PC3 student to matriculate into the program.

Knisley especially appreciated the opportunity PC3 gave him to shadow clinicians in different settings and see them in action. “There was one week where each day we shadowed a pharmacist at a different hospital —the Veterans’ Administration hospital, at Trinity Health, and with (Clinical Associate Professor) Lydia Benitez in the leukemia clinic at the U-M Hospitals. That sparked my interest in oncology pharmacy,” he says. 

PC3 is offered at the College of Pharmacy for students who can commute to campus daily, and remotely for a cohort at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

For Knisley, who grew up in Ann Arbor and still lives in the area, the program was very convenient, and the stipend to cover commuting costs made it “hassle-free.” 

PC3 also gave him a broader sense of career opportunities in pharmacy. For instance, he did not realize that, in the hospital setting, pharmacists sometimes participate in patient rounds alongside the rest of the clinical care team. Likewise, he was surprised to learn that pharmacists were engaged in testing drugs for safety at the FDA office in Detroit.

He appreciated that PC3 gave him an opportunity to meet professors and get to know their passions. It also introduced him to the close-knit College of Pharmacy community. Now, as a P1, “the biggest surprise to me is that, as a class of 85, we go everywhere together. It doesn’t feel like a large group. Being able to meet everybody and go on the same four-year path together has been great.” 

PC3 helped Knisely feel at home at the College; that, in turn, helped him push himself outside his comfort zone to join the Pharmacy Student Government Council, where he represents the P1 class.

He continues to work at Meijer a few hours a week despite a full class load and his student government role.

He’s not sure yet where his career path will take him; a hospital role looks appealing right now. Career-wise, “I’m keeping my options open,” he notes. “I know I’ll have a retail pharmacy option in my back pocket. I know I could do that and be great.” But with so many career paths in pharmacy, he wants to explore them all and determine where his passion lies.