Northeastern APhA-ASP Chapter Makes History at Annual Meeting
(By: Anthony Zaki, P3 PharmD Student)
The Northeastern University Chapter of the American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) had much to celebrate at this year’s annual meeting in San Diego as it was presented with the APhA-ASP National Award for Most Improved Chapter, and as one of its own, Lucianne West, a P3 PharmD student, was inaugurated as the National President. It was the first time in history that a Northeastern student has held this prestigious position.
On Monday, March 30th, Lucy West, was sworn into her executive position where she will serve as the voice of 34,000 student pharmacists. In her inaugural speech, Lucy stressed that “the academy [of student pharmacists] exists because student pharmacists need a voice and a forum in which they can make a difference.” Over the past year as President-Elect, Lucy has tirelessly served the academy as this voice and will continue in her new role as President. She has gone on countless chapter outreach visits around the country, met with thousands of student pharmacists and chaired APhA-ASP committees on the national level.
Continuing with her speech, Lucy, also challenged student pharmacists to question their purpose for choosing to study pharmacy. In pushing student pharmacists to accomplish more, Lucy, exclaimed, “we can achieve anything if we remember our purpose.” This thought-provoking question surely motivated student pharmacists nationwide to question why they entered the profession and drove them to consider how they can make a difference in their communities. A few years before being elected National President of APhA-ASP, Lucy made a difference at the local level while serving as the APhA-ASP, NU Chapter President.
The Northeastern Chapter of the the APhA-ASP was chosen among 120 other schools to receive the “Most Improved Chapter” for 2015. The award recognizes much effort and work by many. In particular, Lucy West and fellow P3 student, Gabriella Pepe (Chapter President 2014-2015), adopted the chapter with passion and went straight to work. They increased the number of events the chapter held by 600%, tripled membership and reached hundreds of patients in the Boston Community. Furthermore, to facilitate transition within the chapter, they instituted vice chair positions on the executive committee to enable stability from year to year.
This meeting in San Diego was truly historic, but it does not end here. We are now privileged to witness Lucy lead APhA-ASP this year, as well as, our local APhA-ASP NU chapter as we build upon this award. Needless to say, the future is looking bright for student pharmacists at NU’s School of Pharmacy.
(Back to SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER)