January 25, 2017
Jared was chosen to present his projects to all conference attendees during the opening ceremony.

Jared Borlagdan, a fourth-year PharmD student, recently had the honor of representing the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy at a conference in Nanjing, China. The event was a fusion of the first International Forum of Pharmacy Students and the Ninth National Forum of Pharmacy Students (for Chinese students), which took place alongside the Global Conference on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education run by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP).

The conference was sponsored by China Pharmaceutical University, the Pharmacy Education Committee of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association, and the Higher Pharmacy Education Advisory Board under the Ministry of Education. The U-M College of Pharmacy has a formal partnership with China Pharmaceutical University (CPU). 

Mr. Borlagdan was one of only twenty-two international students presenting alongside two-hundred Chinese students, who studied both Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Jared and two other students were chosen to present their projects to all conference attendees during the opening ceremony.

“The project that I submitted and presented (Compliance with Institutional Skin and Soft Tissue Infection Guidelines and Associated Outcomes) highlighted the duties of an infectious diseases pharmacist in the US, particularly in terms of antimicrobial stewardship,” Jared explains. “I used that as an introduction into my PharmD Investigations Project, which looked at how compliant physicians were with prescribing antibiotic therapy for skin and soft tissue infections based on Michigan Medicine guidelines, and then seeing how that affected patient outcomes (i.e. readmission to the hospital, escalation of antibiotic therapy, presence of C.difficile infection).”

“I had really enjoyed my time in China,” says Jared. “The hosts were extremely hospitable. Every international student was given a CPU student guide to accompany them during the conference. The highlight was getting to meet fellow pharmacy students from around the world. We all really enjoyed each other’s company and learning about some of the differences in pharmacy practice and education between our countries. I am thankful that I was able to attend because of the College’s partnership with CPU.”