Advocacy takes on new meaning for students
Leadership. Advocacy. Collaboration. They’re all key components to a VCU School of Pharmacy course that takes students from the classroom to Capitol Hill.
In essence, pharmacy students are being prepared to assume leadership roles while learning about professional advocacy and its importance in keeping pharmacy on the national agenda. They learn to represent their chosen profession; they learn to make their voices heard.
The Effective Leadership and Advocacy class, first offered in 2003, is a partnership between VCU School of Pharmacy and University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in Baltimore. Videoconference technology connects pharmacy students and professors at the two campuses and allows for virtual discussions with health care and government representatives.
In-class discussions and projects covering topics such as leadership styles, conflict resolution, negotiation, debating and conducting effective meetings are capped by a visit to Capitol Hill, where students have the opportunity to meet and personally interact with legislators.
Jon Carter (P4) puts it into context: “The Effective Leadership and Advocacy course provided me with the single most important skill that a newly practicing pharmacist could ever hope for – the ability to ensure the vitality of my profession.”
Carter took the class in 2008. Networking opportunities provided by the course, he said, have opened doors for him to participate in numerous pharmacy-related legislative efforts. “And the visit to Capitol Hill helped me to establish relationships with my legislators that will continue to serve me and the profession for decades to come.”
The ELA class, an elective offered each fall semester, is the result of a collaboration among Cynthia Boyle and Robert Beardsley at University of Maryland and David Holdford at VCU. In 2007, Boyle, Beardsley and Holdford published a textbook for the course, “Leadership and Advocacy for Pharmacy” (American Pharmacists Association Publications).
Three years ago, Gary Matzke, associate dean for clinical research and public policy, assumed leadership for the course with expanded focus on the advocacy and political communications.
Matzke also is founding director of the country’s first Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow program for pharmacists. In March, he spoke on “Advocacy – Engaging Your Community: Opportunities for Students” at the inaugural Pharmacy Student Legislative Advocacy Academy and Training Session for NACDS’ RxIMPACT Day.
Last fall, Amy Dembowski (P3) enrolled in the Effective Leadership and Advocacy course with 11 other VCU students and about 50 University of Maryland students.
Though she holds a number of student-organization leadership positions, she said, “I’m not one to pick up the phone and call my legislator.” She hoped that taking the class would widen her comfort zone when it came to marshalling resources and approaching others in leadership positions to advocate for pharmacy and pharmacists.
While a number of related opportunities — such as Virginia Pharmacy Legislative Day – already were available, Dembowski said, she was interested in learning how to choose, pursue and present her own topics of discussion. “That was kind of a big draw for me.”
She also appreciated the fact that the Effective Leadership and Advocacy class was diverse, in that some class members weren’t as involved in student organizations. Being exposed to a variety of leadership skills was a plus.
The experience helped Dembowski realize advocacy wasn’t as difficult as she’d thought. “We took things we were passionate about and were able to speak to those issues.”
One of the issues her group chose to address during their Capitol Hill visit was the impact pharmacists can have in a community setting. Amid the health-care reform debate, she noted, there’s the potential to lose pharmacists, especially in rural areas.
“We know our country has a medication use problem — a drug abuse problem — and obviously that impacts national health and costs. … Since pharmacists are so accessible, we fully believe they are a means to help in that area.”
Dembowski was pleased she and her fellow students had chosen a topic about which they had strong feelings. “Because of how we felt,” she said, it was less intimidating to talk to congressional representatives’ legislative aides.
It also gave students an idea of the impact they could have by keeping legislators informed about pharmacy’s evolving and increasing role in health care.
After knowing her University of Maryland classmates only via video, Dembowski said, visiting legislators’ offices wasn’t just a good opportunity to see Capitol Hill behind the scenes. “It also allowed people to mesh and mingle, gave us the opportunity to strengthen those student pharmacist relationships we strive for in schools.”
Aaron Meadows (P3) agrees.
He also enjoyed learning about advocacy. “I was interested in it before,” he said, “but I didn’t realize all I could do with it. … There are so many different routes. The more I’m involved, the more I learn what you can do.”
Pharmacists can get involved in advocacy through corporations, professional organizations or even on their own, Meadows said. If someone such as an independent pharmacy owner becomes an advocate for the profession, he said, “You might have even greater impact because you can offer a fresh perspective.
“You are the expert on pharmacy, and you’re telling [legislators] about your profession and how you’d like to help people.”
Dembowski concurs. “Everyone should go and speak to their legislators, no matter what you do or how old you are. I think that’s something I took away that will impact my future.”
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