From chemistry major to Pharm.D candidate at University of Buffalo

Academic focus: Chemistry major

Research group: Sharon Stranford's Immunology Lab

Graduate program: Doctor of Pharmacy Program

Research: Clinical Research Track Program

Summer Internship Program: Medication Therapy Management (MTM), Town Total Health Pharmacy, Manhattan, NY

Internship: Pharmacy Intern, CVS Pharmacy

My chemistry background from Mount Holyoke has been helpful in my Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) program, particularly in courses like Pharmaceutical Chemistry & Physical Pharmacy, in the first year of Pharmacy School. These courses focused on drug molecules, chemical and structural properties which facilitate drug distribution and utility in the human body.

In addition to the Pharm.D, I am also in a selective Clinical Research Track Program that affords me the added opportunity of conducting immunology research with a faculty member at the School of Pharmacy.

Additionally, I am currently a licensed Pharmacy Intern at CVS Pharmacy where I dispense and compound different forms of medication while counseling patients on them. My previous summer involvements included a Medication Therapy Management (MTM) internship at Town Total Health Pharmacy in Manhattan, NY. My role included evaluating and counseling Medicare Part D patients and communicating with their physicians to make drug therapy recommendations to optimize the patient's treatment.

My chemistry background at Mount Holyoke offered me a great summer and post-bac research/clinical opportunities in and outside the college including high-ranking tertiary-care teaching facilities like Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Mount Holyoke's rigorous training in Chemistry has indeed set the foundation for future excellence!

A group of friends, including myself, started a research academy in Ghana called "The African Research Academy for Women" to promote STEM education among women, particularly in Africa. Our success, including successful acquisition of funding from various sources, including the Clinton Global Initiatives, allowed us to conduct our first summer research program for 5 university women in Ghana, West Africa.

It was a success and the students of the research academy presented their summer research to faculty at the University of Ghana. I am not the one who originally founded this academy, but I am part of the team who put things together under the direction of the founder.