Orientation Gives New Students a Comprehensive Overview of College Year Ahead
| By the end of the third and final morning of orientation classes for first-year students of the UAMS College of Pharmacy, Anh Vu said he had no more uncertainties about what was ahead of him.
“They answered all the questions that I didn’t even know I had,” said Vu, a first-year student from Bentonville. “I have no more questions. They answered everything.”
The 75 members of the Class of 2023 over the two-and-a-half days of presentations and activities learned about almost every aspect of the college, from the student wellness program and volunteer opportunities at the UAMS 12th Street Health & Wellness Center to the pharmacy curriculum and how to use the Blackboard and ExamSoft systems.
Claudio Raffo, right, a former Miss Arkansas 2018, watches as student models take the stage to explain dress code do’s and don’ts to the first year students.
Lanita White, Pharm.D., the college’s assistant dean of student affairs, and Anneliese Armstrong, an education/technology resource specialist, organized the orientation with assistance from dozens of faculty and students.
“With input and help from faculty and students, Anneliese and I worked hard to plan sessions that give students the background and information they’ll need to navigate through their first year and beyond,” White said. “The students met us more than halfway. They were engaged, enthusiastic and curious. The class of 2023 is impressive, and we’re looking forward to seeing what they will do.”
A first-year student from Scott, Colton Andrews was uncertain how useful orientation would be.
“I came into orientation thinking ‘Wow, two-and-a-half days for orientation?’” Andrews said. “But, how they structured it was pretty phenomenal and the student Q and A where we could speak one-on-one with P2s to P4s was great. That surprised me.”
No stranger to the spotlight, Miss Arkansas 2018, Claudia Raffo of Jonesboro, said she didn’t have too many anxieties about starting her new postgraduate path to a Pharm.D.
“One thing I loved about being Miss Arkansas was being able to walk into a room and adapt my
Colton Andrews votes with his thumb down that a student model on stage is wearing attire that is non-compliant with the college’s dress code.
communication skills whether it was to a group of children or to a group of adults,” Raffo said. “I think that’s a big part of pharmacy, no matter what kind of setting you’re in. It really helped coming to UAMS not knowing anybody in my incoming class and being able to walk in on my first day and still feel confident and competent in my communication skills.”
At a young age, Raffo was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. She said her pharmacist helped her find a medicine that would get her through her “childbearing years.” That experience also sparked her interest in pursuing a career in a medical field.
Raffo said she attended Pharmacy Camp at the UAMS College of Pharmacy when she was a junior in high school. The camp reinforced for her the idea becoming a pharmacist.
“Like my pharmacist, I want to be that person for people who are going to be on medicine their entire life just like me,” she said.
Andrews initially was attracted to pharmacy because it held the promise of a solid salary, but his interest grew into a more intellectual one.
“It’s always amazed me how something so small and insignificant as a molecule can have a profound effect on the human body,” Andrews said. “I wanted to know more and really get to manipulate those molecules to make something better to help mass groups of people.”
Anh Vu came to his career choice several years after completing a degree in accounting at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Initially, he had planned to become an accounting professor and earn a doctorate. By the end of his undergraduate work, he had decided against a career in accounting, eventually taking a job as cashier at a Walmart store.
He said he enjoyed the retail environment and aspires to be a Walmart pharmacist once his next degree is in hand.
“I think there’s a lot of anticipation coming in because it’s exciting,” Raffo said. “Even though there are so many different kinds of people in our class, I feel like we are all very open to the challenge. Even though we kept hearing that it’s going to be difficult, and we’ll have to study a lot and focus. But, I think we’re up to the challenge because we all want some day to be pharmacists.”