By Morgen Wells | @KyKernel

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Last week, UK’s College of Pharmacy’s website highlighted an article written by three professors that sparked controversy among students.

The article, written by Jeff Cain, Frank Romanelli and Kelly Smith, reviews other academic works and discusses an attitude of entitlement among students as observed by professors in higher education.

The article includes phrases such as “students’ lack of personal responsibility for their own education is a common and contemporary theme expressed by faculty members.”

The article immediately sparked outrage among some pharmacy students, who thought the article was aimed at them.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I spend 23 hours a week in class and the rest of my time is split between interning in a pharmacy, (participating in) leadership positions in pharmacy organizations, studying, doing homework and planning my capstone for my dual degree,” said Katie Bentley, a second-year student in the Doctorate of Pharmacy program, in an email. “I have lost friends, canceled a gym membership, and pushed back my wedding date in order to maximize my learning in this program.”

Other pharmacy students voiced the same dedication to the program.

“I can personally attest to spending an average of 30 hours per week outside of class specifically on class material,” said Brian Garcia, vice president of the College of Pharmacy’s Class of 2016, in an email.

Garcia went on to cite the UK College of Pharmacy’s high pass rate of the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination as a testament of the hard work of UK pharmacy students.

Jeff Cain, an adjunct associate professor for the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science and the Director of Education Technology for the college, was the primary author of the article.

He said he couldn’t agree more about the dedication of pharmacy students and was surprised at the negative reaction.

“The perception that this was an article about them wasn’t even close,” Cain said. “As a review article, the goal was primarily to consolidate other research about the subject into one easily digestible work.”

“None of us three (authors) had our students in mind,” Cain said.

The confusion could have come from the article’s amplification through social media and from students reading the article with the assumption that it was written about them, he said.

“It looks like our words, but it’s reference to another article,” Cain said. “If you see a title and have an impression of what it’s going to be, you can apply it to anything.”

The article, which was published about four months ago, snowballed once it was posted to the College of Pharmacy’s Facebook page.

“Most wouldn’t have seen it if it hadn’t been selected for article of the month,” Cain said.

While some students expressed anxiety over the article hurting their professional opportunities, Cain wasn’t worried.

“I can’t imagine in the least that students’ opportunities would be affected. This article was geared toward an audience of pharmacy educators,” Cain said. “There are employers who read these kinds of articles, but I can’t imagine they’re even remotely thinking this had to do with UK pharmacy students.”

Cain continued to stress that the article was not aimed at UK pharmacy students.

“Our experiences with UK students are great. They’re some of the best students in the world — high achieving and absolutely brilliant,” Cain said. “We’re three big advocates for UK pharmacy students, and we wouldn’t do anything to derail them.”

UK College of Pharmacy Article: