The
Pulse Global Experiences: Central America
News from Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
2
March 2012
Marching to the Beat Internship Opens Doors in Pediatric Pharmacy students tend to start seriously Jenna is a member of the inaugural class in Vermont, of a Different Drum Most thinking about a summer internship during and like many of her fellow students, she wasted
Fifth-year student Dave Bombard likes to play music. A lot. He started getting serious about music when he was a junior in high school, but soon he was off to ACPHS to follow the same path as his parents, both of whom are pharmacists and ACPHS graduates. But his passion for music has continued throughout college and, if anything, grown stronger.
“I formed a band with some friends from high school after my first year at ACPHS, and we wanted to tour,” says Dave, who plays drums. So he did what anyone else would do in his position. He booked a summer tour that stretched from New York to California. “Putting that first tour together was a lot of studying during the week, and a lot of nights with no sleep. But I loved it. I had fun doing it.” The result of those efforts was a 28 show tour for his three-piece band Still Rings True (the name comes from a lyric in the song “Nebraska Bricks” by the band Saves the Day). From those simple beginnings, the group has begun to taste some real success. Still Rings True is a descendant of classic punk and hardcore bands like The Clash and Operation Ivy, with lyrics that focus on social and political issues. In June 2011, the band released their second full length CD, and their first for label Third Time Lucky Rekords of Harrisburg, PA. The album is called Tear Down Continued on Page 3
their winter break, or if they are really organized, in the fall. Jenna Pacheco, a P3 student on the Vermont Campus, began planning her internship at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center in her freshman year of college.
Her patience and planning paid off six years later when she received an internship at Johns Hopkins this past summer. Johns Hopkins is widely considered to be the most competitive pharmacy internship program in the country, and with just 16 students selected last year from more than 300 applicants, it’s easy to understand why. Jenna interned at Johns Hopkins Medical Center.
These experiences, combined with her passion for pharmacy, no doubt caught the attention of the team at Johns Hopkins. For Jenna, the experience was everything she hoped it would be and more. “I worked for 12 weeks in the Children’s Center. I went on rounds each day with clinical pharmacists. I participated in journal clubs. I even scrubbed in on eight different types of surgery. It was awesome,” she said. As part of the program, each student is assigned a project at the beginning of the internship and is Continued on Page 3
Sister Act Helps Lead Team to Championship They didn’t really plan it this way, but Alyson and Kelsey Johnson are glad to be playing next to each other again. The sisters from Malone, New York (one hour west of Plattsburgh) have proven to be valuable contributors to the ACPHS women’s basketball team, who won their second straight Hudson Valley Athletic Conference Championship this year. But it almost didn’t happen at all. When Alyson was a senior in high school, she planned to be a nurse practitioner, just like her mother. She applied to five nursing programs, and then changed directions late in the application process after working in a pharmacy as part of the New Visions program. She enrolled at ACPHS the following fall.
Still Rings True (left to right): Leo LaMay, Josh Snyder, and ACPHS fifth-year student Dave Bombard.
little time getting involved (and, in some cases, helping form) student clubs and organizations. Last year she was president of the Vermont Campus chapter of APhA-ASP, in addition to serving as the secretary for Colleges Against Cancer. Earlier this year she helped launch a student chapter for the Society of Health System Pharmacists.
The twist to the story is that pharmacy is the path that Kelsey, who is two years younger than Alyson, had chosen for herself as far back as eighth grade.
“Everyone says, ‘Oh, Kelsey followed in your footsteps,’ when they find out that we go to the same school,” says Alyson. “But the truth is that Kelsey decided on a career in pharmacy long before I did. It sounds strange because I’m older, but I followed in her footsteps.” Kelsey was surprised to learn of her sister’s decision to pursue pharmacy, but she also knew that having “Aly” (Allie) at ACPHS would give her a unique Continued on Page 3
Sisters Alyson (left) and Kelsey Johnson were the top two scorers on this year’s ACPHS Women’s basketball team.