College of Pharmacy Quiz Bowl Team Finishes Second at International Competition
| A team of four College of Pharmacy graduate students took second place in a quiz bowl-style competition for the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), held May 13-16 in Montreal.
ISPOR is the leading professional society for health economics and outcomes research. The society’s mission is to advance excellence in health economics and outcomes research to improve decision-making for health globally. The College of Pharmacy has an ISPOR student chapter.
The college’s quiz bowl team included Allen Smith, Pharm.D.; Ruston Koonce, Pharm.D.; Jack Nguyen, Pharm.D.; and Aubree Seibert-Jeffery. Bradley Martin, Pharm.D., professor of pharmacy practice, served as the team’s faculty advisor.
“I am proud of our students’ showing this year at the ISPOR quiz bowl,” Martin said. “They went deep into the tournament and lost on the final question to a very solid team from the University of Illinois at Chicago. I think their strong showing is a testament to the quality of the curriculum we offer here in the Division of Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy at UAMS, and the caliber of the students who study here.”
“As students in a small program, we spend a lot of time together in class and get to see each other present frequently, which gives us a real sense of respect for each other and the work we do,” Seibert-Jeffery said. “Even though I was nervous going into the competition, I felt confident in our team’s ability to represent UAMS well while still having fun.”
“I attributed our advance to the finals with having students representing all levels of progression in the program,” said Nguyen, a first-year graduate student. “Ruston and Allen were near the end of their dissertations, Aubree was in the midst of her didactics, and I was finishing the first step. We were able to field a full team and compete in an exciting showcase at the highest level.”
“Our success came from consistent teamwork, steady preparation and lightning-fast response times,” Koonce said. “We would not have achieved our rank in this competition without the excellent training we received from the Division of Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy, as well as the strong work ethic of my teammates.”
This was the first year since 2020 that the quiz bowl competition was held, after being suspended for several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin said.
The quiz bowl competition is similar to Jeopardy, where contestants buzz in and answer health economics and outcomes research related questions. It is an elimination-style tournament, where pairs of teams face off, with winners advancing to quarterfinals, semifinals and final rounds. The quiz bowl is open to teams from around the world. All of this year’s teams were from North America, Martin said.
Prior to 2020, the College of Pharmacy’s ISPOR chapter consistently competed in the quiz bowl tournament and secured top-four finishes several times.