Pharmacy team competes
October 16, 2014
By Tabassum Ali
The five-student UK College of Pharmacy clinical skills team reached the quarterfinals of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Clinical Pharmacy Challenge. They were one of eight teams who made it from 104 other colleges and the only college to return to the quarterfinals from last year.
“It is all about the students,” said Bob Kuhn, professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, who serves as the team’s coach. “Being able to watch them grow throughout this process is rewarding both professionally and personally.”
Kuhn said that specialists and clinical professors have been reviewing information with the team for the past three months. The team consisted of Jonathan Hughes, Brette Conliffe, Savannah Lindsey, David Roy and Carly Stoneman.
Hughes, who led the team in the competition said “The challenge consisted of three rounds: Trivia, clinical case and a jeopardy round.” Hughes is in his fourth year as part of the Doctor of Pharmacy candidates at UK.
The first rounds were completed online and the top eight scoring teams attended the live tournament in Austin, Texas.
This competition was just as important to the students within the team, according to Hughes.
“Although it is a relatively new competition, it is hosted by ACCP, an important national pharmacy organization,” said Hughes, who mentioned that having something like this on a resume is “an excellent way to network and demonstrate skills when competing for those residency spots.”
Hughes said that it was not just the idea that this tournament will give them recognition within the profession that motivated them.
“We were largely inspired by the success of our predecessors who also advanced to the quarterfinals last year,” Hughes said. “It is honestly a ton of nerdy fun to apply the knowledge we have been learning for the past three and a half years and compete against others.”
Kuhn took great care in choosing his team, according to Hughes.
“After a few therapeutic reviews, our clinical knowledge was assessed through written examination as well as our ability to work together as a team,” Hughes said.
Each team member received a $125 gift card to spend on resources published by the ACCP. They also received free registration to attend the ACCP annual meeting where the tournament was held.
