BY JESSICA CANL AS
Ruixuan Jiang, PharmD ’15, PhD ’19, is a self-confessed germophobe. This posed a conundrum for her as a student interested in pursuing a career in healthcare—choosing a career path in the medical field where human contact isn’t required.
DR. RUIXUAN JIANG
After considering her options, Jiang landed on her solution. Pharmacy. “I could be involved in medical healthcare, but I wouldn’t have to touch people,” she had reasoned. It seemed like the perfect fit. Little did she know about a growing trend that would profoundly impact the profession’s status quo. So, Jiang started college with the intent of one day becoming a pharmacist who would never have physical contact with a patient. By the time she entered pharmacy school, however, the now-common practice of administering flu shots was on the rise. By this point, however, there was no turning back. Jiang was enjoying her clinical training in pharmacy and had discovered a synergy in her chosen field that suited her even better. With a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and chemistry, she’d had some previous experience in the lab that had piqued her interest in research. She had even considered UIC’s joint PharmD/PhD program to pursue that interest. After foregoing the basic science path, Jiang decided to join up with some extracurricular professional organizations to explore her options.
As a P1, Jiang participated in the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Competition. An annual event held nationally, pharmacy students compete in teams of four in an immersive experience designed to develop the skills necessary for effective formulary review and management. “I was really enamored by the process and thought it would be something I’d like to stay involved with,” Jiang recalls. She eventually connected the dots between her P&T experience and the work of the Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes, and Policy (PSOP), which led her to a new path. “I realized I wanted to continue with my research route. So the Riback Fellowship was a great opportunity.” The David J. Riback Research Predoctoral Fellowship is a 10-week summer program intended to provide opportunities for motivated PharmD students interested in research careers in biomedical sciences. The program is funded by an endowment created by Aaron E. Kaplan, BS Pharm ’47, in honor of his uncle David, who graduated from the college in 1927. “It was recognized that there was a need for researchers who have both the PharmD and clinical background who could then apply that in a research setting,” explains Dean Glen Schumock. “[Riback] gives them the experience to decide if that’s something they want to move on with as a career.” During the Riback application process, which opens in November, students must identify a faculty mentor
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