Pharmacy Student Organizations Win National Chapter of the Year Awards
| Aug. 18, 2017 | Two UAMS College of Pharmacy student organizations — chapters of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) and the Kappa Epsilon Professional Pharmacy Fraternity — recently walked away with chapter of the year awards.
Kappa Epsilon won Chapter of the Year for 2015-2016. This year the meeting was Aug. 2-5 in New Orleans. The college’s chapter previously won the award for 2007-2008. The national organization only meets every two years and bestows award for each of the previous two academic years.
The members of Kappa Epsilon Professional Pharmacy Fraternity and their faculty advisor, Melanie Reinhardt, celebrate their Chapter of the Year Award in New Orleans. Left to right, front row, they are: Jessica Hargis (rush chair assistant), Lauren Burgess (president and delegate), Dipali Patel (immediate past president), Julianne Mott (vice president and delegate), Shelby Wall (alumni liaison), Jennifer Bounds (rush chair); back row, Erica Ridley (member), Emma Matherne (social chair assistant), Brittany Herpin (historian), Melanie Reinhardt (advisor), Jayme Holland (historian), Abby Williams (philanthropy chair) and Autumn Stice (secretary).
As recently as 2014, Kappa Epsilon had only seven members, but successfully regrew its membership over the next two years to 70 members, said Melanie Reinhardt, Pharm. D., the chapter’s faculty adviser and an assistant professor in the college’s Department of Pharmacy Practice.
That much expanded membership has been active in breast and ovarian cancer public awareness — providing strong volunteer support to the Arkansas Ovarian Cancer Coalition as well as raising money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Arkansas Ovarian Cancer Coalition. Members also provided health screenings at local health fairs, and Kappa Epsilon pledges worked with the UAMS Center for Health Literacy to promote the Plain Pledge which encourages clinicians to use plain language when communicating with patients.
Reinhardt herself took home The Unicorn Award, giving her national recognition for service as a leader and Kappa Epsilon alumni member.
“These are great young women, and I love being involved with everything they do,” Reinhardt said. I joined Kappa Epsilon in 1979 when I was in pharmacy school at UAMS, and have been with it ever since.”
Kendrea Jones, associate professor in the college’s Department of Pharmacy Practice, said she was equally proud of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association. She and Lanita White, assistant professor in Department of Pharmacy Practice, are co-advisors to the chapter.
The association’s national organization met July 27-31 in Las Vegas, and it was from there the chapter garnered the SNPhA/Rite Aid Mid-Size Chapter of the Year Award. The students won the small chapter award last year.
Kanesha Day, chapter president, said the students earned the honor largely in recognition of their efforts to increase minority representation in the health professions and for providing underserved communities with opportunities for health education.
The students worked at health fairs and engaged the public at those and other events to educate them about stroke prevention, immunizations, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. Along with student organizations from other UAMS colleges, the chapter played an active role in REACH (Raising Exposure & Awareness of Careers in Health) in the Delta, an effort to encourage high school students in the Arkansas Delta region to consider careers in the health professions. They visited KIPP Delta Collegiate High School in Helena, and KIPP students also came to UAMS for a day to take part in demonstrations in the UAMS Simulation Center as well as interact with representatives from a wide variety of health fields.
Five students in the chapter together won the Region 4 Walmart/Sam’s Prescription for Service Grant and were recognized in Las Vegas, too. The group received a $2,500 grant from Walmart to install a blood-pressure kiosk at the North Little Rock Community Center. They also provided blood pressure screenings and encouraged community members to use the kiosk to more closely monitor their blood pressure.
“We love serving our patients,” Day said. “That’s where our heart was from the beginning. We look forward to continue to do that through this new school year.”
Additional awards the organizations earned include:
- Fund the Foundation Award to Kappa Epsilon for contributing $700 to the national organization.
- Scholarships from SNPhA of $1,000 each to Kanesha Day and Yusra Samman.
- Finalist for SNPhA Chapter President of the Year for Kanesha Day, one of 12 national finalists.