Student Trip to D.C. for Advocacy

Last year I was given the opportunity to serve as the president of the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) at PCSP. With the great responsibility that accompanies any leadership role, there are numerous opportunities to have fun and enjoy what you are doing. 

Each year APhA hosts a summer leadership institute in Washington D.C. and students are selected based on their leadership role within their local organization. I was fortunate enough to be one of those attendees along with two other students from PCSP (Fairlynn and Jeannie). There was one student from USC who went, and she stayed with us throughout the trip. 

D.C. is an amazing city, but what made this trip special was the simple fact that I, along with my colleagues, were going to the nation’s capitol to advocate for our future profession. APhA offers Capitol Hill visits where you go and advocate important legislation that affects the profession of pharmacy. I was eager to get involved and jumped at the chance to participate in a visit. 

In the weeks leading up to the institute, I contacted the office of Senator Lindsey Graham (SC) to reserve a meeting time in order to advocate for two pieces of legislation. I was ecstatic once the meeting time had been arranged because this was a big step in my professional career. APhA offered conference calls and learning sessions before our Capitol Hill visit to help prepare us for what we could expect to transpire. Unfortunately, Senator Graham was busy that day and unable to meet with us, but one of his top aides met with the four of us to discuss two pieces of legislation: Loan Forgiveness and a MTM bill. I was pretty nervous heading into the meeting, but once we started talking my passion for the profession took over, and it resulted in a productive meeting. Our job as pharmacy students was to educate his aide on the issues important to us so that she can then relay the information to Senator Graham. The most rewarding thing from this experience was that when I contacted his office weeks after the institute, Senator Graham had been briefed on the information we presented and was considering support for the legislation. 

One day several months after the institute I signed onto Facebook, and it was with great surprise and elation that I saw on the APhA page that the Loan Forgiveness bill had passed. It is great to know that students advocating for the profession can make an impact! 

Written by: Matthew, P3 student