At the end of my senior year in high school, I visited a college tour in Puerto Rico to find out about colleges and universities that specialized in my area of interest. During the tour, I met an academic advisor for the NOVA Southeastern University and sat down with her to talk about my future endeavors. She informed me about the College of Pharmacy of NSU, what they provided, the curriculum, the students and the experiential education. This piqued my interest, and I decided to tour the Puerto Rico Regional Campus. I learned that the College of Pharmacy offers programs committed to developing students’ professionally, uses interactive technology to provide the same high-quality education as in the other sites, and provides introductory pharmacy practice experiences in community and hospital settings. After everything I learned both through the academic advisor and my own experience of the tour, I decided to apply to the NSU College of Pharmacy to achieve my professional goals.
The NSU College of Pharmacy offers a variety of programs that allow students to become leaders in their professional field. One of the programs that caught my attention the most was The Dean’s Ambassador Program, which is offered in Puerto Rico, as well. The reason that I am interested in this program is that, as they explained, it provides opportunities for students to represent the college to alumni, preceptors, university, professional communities, and the general public. The program, also, provides training and mentoring in leadership, networking, presentation, and teamwork, as well as the business protocol to better prepare students. This program will not only allow me the opportunity to reach out to other students, the way the academic advisor reached out to me back when I was in high school but grow as a pharmacy professional, in every sense of what my career will require of me.
During my tour of the building, one of the biggest surprises I had was the way NSU handles distance education programming. This is an era that is driven, controlled, and managed by technology, and I believe NSU has understood and adapted to an always evolving future that is changing how patients are cared for. Regardless of the location for the College of Pharmacy every Campus has compressed video technology and video conferencing to provide lectures between sites simultaneously, which allows for live interaction between faculty members and students. Additionally, all students have access to the Health Professions Division library, computer laboratories, and online learning resources. I admire this approach because all the students are taught similarly which prepares all of them with the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful and competent pharmacists, not one location above the rest.
Recently, I volunteered in an obstetrics and gynecology clinic, where I shadowed the Doctor as well as the Pharm. D. students that were completing their introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) there. These students were helpful, kind, knowledgeable and were ready to answer my questions about the College of Pharmacy and about the Doctor’s prescriptions or procedures. They informed me about the IPPEs and what it helped them achieve. This experience, for them, facilitated real-life application of the material learned in their classroom, and the importance of effective communication between pharmacists, patients, and other health care providers. My interest in Pharmacy comes from wanting to be patient-centered. My desire to help people and care for them is one of the main reasons I want to become a Pharmacist. The IPPEs in the NSU College of Pharmacy will help me develop competencies and enhance my knowledge of patient care management.
The College of Pharmacy of the NOVA Southeastern University is the place where I know I will excel as a pharmacy practitioner. It will provide the knowledge, materials, technology, and skills necessary to be a competent pharmacist in a dynamic, diverse and evolving health care environment. The reasons why I want to attend the NSU COP is because it offers programs committed to developing students’ professionally, uses interactive technology to provide the same high-quality education as in the other sites, and provides introductory pharmacy practice experiences in community and hospital settings. The academic advisor pointed me in the right direction and my friends have confirmed how good this University is. I want this to be the University where I achieve my professional goals. If I am chosen I will call myself a shark, proudly.
