February 19, 2015

Written by: Allison Schepers, PharmD’16

On Thursday, January 22, 2015 pharmacists and students gathered at the U-M Museum of Natural History for “Mentoring in a Moment.”

U-M Health-System Student Pharmacists (HSP) and Pharmacy Student Government Council (PSGC) collaborated to plan the event. Mentoring in a Moment gives students an opportunity to establish mentoring relationships with health systems pharmacists based on similar career interests. Thirteen pharmacists and 25 students participated in this year’s event. The pharmacists represented multiple health systems in the Ann Arbor area and represented a variety of practice areas within health system pharmacy.

Throughout the night, students rotated to different locations in the museum and talked with three different pharmacists. Students and pharmacists discussed career options in pharmacy, postgraduate training, PharmD research projects, P4 APPE rotations, along with many other topics.

“With residency applications and interviews in the near future, it was extremely insightful to have my questions and concerns addressed by pharmacists at different points in their careers, from current residents to those with years of experience,” adds P3 student participant Alyssa Bowling. 

Mentoring in a Moment originated as HSP’s 2014 Professional Development Project, and the event won the ASHP Outstanding Professional Development Project Award. HSP and PSGC were eager to repeat the event this year, to allow more students to meet a diverse group of pharmacists who they might not otherwise interact with.

“I really enjoyed Mentoring in a Moment because it gave me the opportunity to connect with pharmacists on a more individual level. The small group interactions provided a focused environment, and this enabled me to form connections with pharmacists that I hope to keep in touch with in the future,” states P1 student Tracelyn Freeman.

The student organizers would like to thank Olive Garden for donating dinner for the event, as well as the pharmacists for volunteering their time, and for their ongoing commitment to mentoring pharmacy students.