The ICHP student chapter at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS) strives to help our members grow professionally in their careers, both academically and in future endeavors. We also value the importance of giving back to the community through volunteering, fundraising, and public health events. To accomplish this goal, we set up events throughout the year where our members have the opportunity to venture out into our surrounding communities to promote the importance of healthcare by learning from our patients firsthand. 

We partnered with Operation Diabetes of the American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) at RFUMS to participate in providing free health screenings to the community at the ADA Walk to Stop Diabetes event in Lincoln Park, Chicago on September 21, 2019. Along with other colleges of pharmacy in the Chicagoland area, we were able to promote awareness about the impact of diabetes on our society by educating the community about certain risk factors for diabetes and how lifestyle modifications, such as diet and exercise, help prevent and manage the disease. In addition, we offered free blood glucose and blood pressure screenings to those who were interested in learning about their health. This empowered participants to take control of their health and determine what improvements they may need to make. Through this initiative, we made a significant impact on the community’s awareness of diabetes.

We had another event where ten of our members participated in a philanthropy event called “Cookies from the Heart” in collaboration with the Ronald McDonald House Charities, which has locations in the Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana areas. Since 1977, they have kept families together with their hospitalized children through this program, enabling them to heal together. There are five Ronald McDonald Houses and three Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, and each night, they keep about 162 families close to the care and resources they need. This allows families to stay close to their hospitalized child to support the child’s health and well-being while saving families money  in hotel and food costs each year. We visited the Ronald McDonald House near the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. There, we baked cookies and sweet treats for hospitalized children and their families who were a part of the program. Through this simple gesture, our members got to experience firsthand the thoughtful impact they had on these families and their hospitalized children. Knowing that there are people out there who are thinking about them and their children is just enough to help power these families to keep on fighting to win in their battle.

As future pharmacists, our responsibilities are focused around our patients and caring for them should be catered to their individual needs. In order to get an idea of how every patient population is unique, we must step out of our comfort zone and into the surrounding local communities to help those in need. Continuing to partake in patient-centered philanthropy events will not only make us better student pharmacists, but will help us grow into well-rounded future pharmacists.

TOP LEFT: (left to right) Nimita Shah, Meagen Khoshaba (P1), Sneha Srivastava, PharmD, Nadine Alwawi (P2)

TOP RIGHT: (front to back) Monica Salabun (P3), Nimita Shah (P3)

BOTTOM: (left to right) Shujie Lin (P2), Navpreet Kaur (P2), Monica Salabun, Krista Paplaczyk (P4), Allison Waldvogel (P4), Nadine Alwawi, Emily Brown (P2), Nimita Shah, Hilary Antar (P2)