Securing a spot early

Early Admission Pathway Gives Students Career Boost

Olivia Long knew when she was in eighth grade that she wanted to be a pharmacist. Through the Early Admission Pathway at East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, she found a way to get a jump on that career.

The Mount Juliet native is concurrently working toward her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy studies and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree. The idea of pharmacy was first suggested by her mother, a nurse, and Long investigated the career in high school classes and attended a summer camp at Gatton College of Pharmacy.

“Since I knew I wanted to do pharmacy for such a long time, it was nice to be able to go into the career earlier. It saved me time and money in the long run, and I’ll start doing what I really am passionate about earlier,” she said.

The Early Admission Pathway was implemented to provide a direct route to pharmacy school for individuals just like Long. It allows students who want to become pharmacists to apply as high school students for admission to Gatton College of Pharmacy. The Early Admission Pathway is also open to ETSU first-year students.

“The ultimate benefit for students is that it allows them to go ahead and secure a spot with Gatton College of Pharmacy, so they don’t have that anxiety of ‘Can I make the cut?’ ‘Will I be good enough?’ It removes that so they can actually focus on school,” said Steve Ellis, the college's Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. “It also provides an opportunity to work with us while they’re freshmen and sophomores to prepare and develop more experience for when they actually enter the pharmacy school.”

Gatton College of Pharmacy is one of only a few pharmacy schools that offer early admission programs.

Learn more at etsu.edu/RxEarlyAdmit.

‘White Coat Radio’

Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy launched a new podcast, “White Coat Radio.”

The podcast, which debuted August 1, 2022, provides listeners with helpful advice, stories, and insights from the faculty, staff, and student pharmacists at the college.

Hosts Dr. Michele Williams and Dan VanZant lead this informative and entertaining podcast, with new episodes appearing monthly. Williams is Academic Success Specialist and VanZant is Instructional Design and Technology Manager in the Office of Academic Affairs at the college.

“White Coat Radio” may be heard on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean, and Spotify.

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