The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), Pharmacy is Right for Me campaign is a national effort to promote the profession of pharmacy. Identifying strategies consistent with the campaign that effectively promote the profession of pharmacy has been the focus of a research project that I am completing this summer with my co-researcher, Kris Kloc, and our faculty mentor Dr. Jamie Dillig. Dr. Dillig is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice and the Director of Outreach at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science College of Pharmacy. She has been working to educate young students about the profession of pharmacy and provide knowledge regarding pharmacy career paths. Dr. Dillig facilitates pharmacy outreach through college fairs, career days, and special interest groups in middle and high schools.

Key outreach strategies that are successful in defining a student’s career choice are widely unknown, which gave Kris and I an opportunity to conduct research in this area. Part of our background research was to experience an outreach event firsthand. Kris and I chose to conduct the event at a middle school career fair. To prepare, we created a PowerPoint presentation that explained why we chose the pharmacy profession, our pathway to pharmacy school, and career options for pharmacists after graduation. We also incorporated an active learning exercise. 

Since the students were more familiar with the duties of community pharmacists compared to other roles, they were fascinated with the number of career opportunities available to pharmacists that were highlighted. One student was so intrigued that he asked, “I see that pharmacists can specialize in genetics, oncology, and ambulatory care—can I do all of those? And what is the maximum amount of jobs that I can be involved in?” This question was pretty remarkable, not only considering that the student was in 7^th grade, but also that he was so excited by the information that he felt one specialty was not enough. Part of the reason students may not consider pharmacy as a career option could be due to the lack of outreach to students early in their education.

This experience provided better insight on how to proceed with our summer research project and what questions to consider when evaluating career outreach among young students. We hope to identify specific strategies that are instrumental in helping students choose a career path, especially as they pertain to the AACP Pharmacy is Right for Me efforts. They may be integral in inspiring the next generation of pharmacists.

Figure 1. Kris Kloc and I preceding our Middle School Career Presentation to promote outreach for the profession of pharmacy for the AACP Pharmacy is Right for Me campaign.