[{"id":5890,"date":"2024-10-04T15:51:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T15:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/?p=5890"},"modified":"2024-10-04T15:51:22","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T15:51:22","slug":"remember-that-word-community-beckner-tells-community-of-pharm-d-students-at-white-coat-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/2024\/10\/remember-that-word-community-beckner-tells-community-of-pharm-d-students-at-white-coat-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Remember that word: community,\u2019 Beckner tells community of Pharm.D. students at White Coat Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Sept. 23, faculty, staff, friends and family gathered at St. Paul\u2019s Baptist Church North to celebrate VCU School of Pharmacy\u2019s newest Doctor of Pharmacy students, formally welcoming them into the pharmacy profession at the Pharm.D. Class of 2028 White Coat Ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before receiving their white coats onstage with the assistance of Bertha Rolfe Teacher of the Year Yana Cen<\/strong>, Ph.D., students heard reflections from keynote speaker John Beckner<\/strong>, R.Ph. (B.S. \u201978).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dr. Beckner, who serves as senior director of strategic initiatives at the National Community Pharmacists Association, shared his experience as a pharmacist impacting the lives of patients and community members \u2013 and reflected on the importance of students seeking community, whether in national organizations or among their own peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Today, you are starting a new path together with your colleagues,” Beckner said. “You are part of a community, one that will become increasingly important as you progress through pharmacy school and begin practice. Remember that word: Community.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A native of Chilhowie, Beckner shared the inspiration he has drawn from a community pharmacist in his Southwest Virginia hometown. This pharmacist, he said, was a \u201cconfidant, advisor, friend and counselor to many.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLong before there were formal collaborative practice agreements between physicians and pharmacists, he collaborated with the local physician to take care of the health-related needs of the community, including those of my family,\u201d Beckner said. \u201cAs I look out and see your faces filled with excitement about the future, I ask you to reflect on what path you took to get here and what led you down that path. Chances are you were influenced by someone just like I was.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beckner encouraged students to get involved with national organizations early on and to always remember their reason for entering the profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is my hope that you will embrace your role as a health care provider,” Beckner said. “Your success will be measured not by the salary you earn or by the number of prescriptions you fill, but by the lives you touch. It will take your collective personal commitment to move this profession forward, and we must never compromise our pursuit of the vision of a patient-centered practice.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Beckner’s remarks, members of the Pharm.D. Class of 2028 were formally recognized with their new white coats as family and friends cheered. Led by Student Executive Council president and P3 student Alexis Archer<\/strong>, they recited the Oath of the Student Pharmacist before recessing to celebrate with family and friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Sept. 23, faculty, staff, friends and family gathered at St. Paul\u2019s Baptist Church North to celebrate VCU School of Pharmacy\u2019s newest Doctor of Pharmacy students, formally welcoming them into the pharmacy profession at the Pharm.D. Class of 2028 White Coat Ceremony. Before receiving their white coats onstage with the assistance of Bertha Rolfe Teacher […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":995,"featured_media":5892,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-5890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-news","tag-pharmd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/995"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":5879,"date":"2024-09-06T14:58:46","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T14:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/?p=5879"},"modified":"2024-09-06T15:03:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T15:03:46","slug":"aspiring-academics-program-serves-as-a-stepping-stone-to-teaching-future-pharmacists-for-john-pham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/2024\/09\/aspiring-academics-program-serves-as-a-stepping-stone-to-teaching-future-pharmacists-for-john-pham\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspiring Academics Program serves as a stepping stone to teaching future pharmacists for John Pham"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Third-year Pharm.D. student John Pham has been selected as part of the second cohort of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy\u2019s Aspiring Academics Program<\/a>. Per an AACP news release<\/a>, the program is \u201cdesigned to facilitate a deeper understanding of career paths in academic pharmacy,\u201d inspiring students and giving them insights on what a career as a pharmacy faculty member could look like and the skills they\u2019d need to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pharm.D. candidate John Pham<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Pham, who earned his B.S. in Chemistry<\/a> at VCU in 2022, said he looks forward to learning from experienced mentors and further exploring one of his passions in pharmacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAcademia is such an integral part of pharmacy \u2013 you need teachers to create pharmacists,\u201d Pham said. \u201cBeing around 27 other like-minded peers gives me many different perspectives on how to get into academia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program is just one step in Pham\u2019s vision for his future. After graduation, Pham is interested in pursuing a PGY-1 residency, where he will have the opportunity to teach pharmacy students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom there, I want to teach in a pharmacy school as both an educator and a clinical pharmacist on other days. To me, burnout comes from doing the same things every day \u2013 so I love the idea of being able to go into the clinic on Monday\/Wednesday, and then teach on Tuesday\/Thursday,\u201d Pham said describing his ideal schedule, similar to that of several pharmacy faculty at the School of Pharmacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program will give Pham an opportunity to learn more about the expectations of faculty members across teaching, service and scholarship or research. At the end of the program, he will travel to Chicago to attend AACP\u2019s Pharmacy Education 2025<\/a> conference and its Teachers\u2019 Seminar. In the meantime, he\u2019ll engage in learning modules, group mentorship, networking and a group project alongside 27 peers from other schools of pharmacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pham said the encouragement of faculty members is part of what attracted him to apply for the Aspiring Academics Program. He first learned about the program from his faculty mentor Laura Morgan Frankart,<\/a> Pharm.D., interim executive associate dean for academic affairs who completed AACP\u2019s Academic Leadership Fellows Program<\/a> this year. The program will allow him to learn from a faculty mentor at VCU \u2013 Krista Donohoe<\/a>, Pharm.D., a professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDr. Donohoe was gracious enough to become my mentor for the program,\u201d Pham said. \u201cShe has been extremely helpful and supportive of everything I have done, giving me the confidence to even submit my application.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he prepares for a year full of learning about academic pharmacy opportunities, Pham is most looking forward to gaining a deeper understanding of the academic pharmacy field and its unique blend of teaching and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to be comfortable with academia \u2013 to be able to say to myself exactly what academia is and understand the field, to be able to fully commit in the future,\u201d said Pham, who serves as co-scholarship chair for VCU’s Rho Chi Pharmacy Honor Society. \u201cI want to be able to help the P1 students the best I can. Having been in their shoes, I know the type of stress and pressure they might be feeling. If I can make their day just a little bit easier, I believe it can go a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Third-year Pharm.D. student John Pham has been selected as part of the second cohort of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy\u2019s Aspiring Academics Program. Per an AACP news release, the program is \u201cdesigned to facilitate a deeper understanding of career paths in academic pharmacy,\u201d inspiring students and giving them insights on what a career […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":995,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[61,37],"class_list":["post-5879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student-news","tag-pharmd","tag-student-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/995"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":5877,"date":"2024-09-05T18:19:08","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T18:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/?p=5877"},"modified":"2024-09-05T23:27:09","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T23:27:09","slug":"dr-yan-zhang-earns-distinguished-scholarship-award-at-vcus-42nd-annual-faculty-convocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/pharmacy\/2024\/09\/dr-yan-zhang-earns-distinguished-scholarship-award-at-vcus-42nd-annual-faculty-convocation\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Yan Zhang earns Distinguished Scholarship Award at VCU’s 42nd Annual Faculty Convocation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr. Zhang, honored for his contributions to substance use disorder research<\/a>, is the third School of Pharmacy faculty member in as many years to earn this award.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Yan Zhang, Ph.D.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At VCU\u2019s 42nd Annual Faculty Convocation on Aug. 29, the university presented Yan Zhang<\/a><\/strong>, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy, with the Distinguished Scholarship Award. The award honors an outstanding scholar who has demonstrated a pattern of productive scholarly activity which has been recognized nationally or internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zhang has focused his research on the design, synthesis and development of small-molecule modulators of neurological disorders and exploring their applications in treating substance use disorders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A sense of curiosity and wonder fuels Dr. Zhang\u2019s approach to science, even as he battles the terrible toll of the opioid epidemic,” said Mary Peace McRae<\/strong>, Pharm.D., Ph.D., associate dean of research and graduate studies, in introducing Zhang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zhang leads a team of VCU researchers from multiple departments in two major National Institute on Drug Abuse grants, which aim to put forward molecules for understanding the role of the mu opioid receptor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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