FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

 

For more information, contact:

Elizabeth Maynard-Garrett, APR

UTHSC Communications and Marketing

(901) 448-4957

 

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE PHARMACY STUDENT ORGANIZATION WINS NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR FIFTH YEAR

 

            Memphis, Tennessee (May 2, 2005) – For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) chapter of the Academy of Students Pharmacists (ASP) was named “Chapter of the Year” at the recent American Pharmacists Association (APhA) meeting in Orlando.

            Represented by 61 UTHSC students, the chapter also received the Region 3 Operation Diabetes and Operation Immunization awards for their efforts at screening and educating patients in these areas of pharmaceutical care. Pharmacy students immunized 9,750 people last fall for pneumonia and influenza.

            The Chapter of the Year Award reflects the efforts of the entire 426-member UTHSC pharmacy student organization.  These students spearheaded efforts to educate citizens about various health risks, disease states, and disease prevention through health fairs and other community events like Senior Day at the Zoo and the American Heart Association’s Women’s Conference.  Additionally, students took hundreds of blood pressures and counseled many assisted living residents on their medications. Children with asthma learned how to better cope with their disease and women were educated about breast cancer thanks to these students’ efforts.

            Ben Gross, UTHSC College of Pharmacy third-year student and president of the APhA-ASP chapter said, “We have done a lot for the community but we’ve learned so much in the process.  These kinds of experiences are the best way to extend our classroom and laboratory learning into the real world. The fact that we won an award is just icing on the cake.”

            Look for the UTHSC pharmacy student Relay for Life team in the Downtown Relay for Life event May 21 and 22.

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