Caring for the Community

I am Sunanda, and I am a 2^nd year pharmacy student.  Being a part of Presbyterian College, we are taught to deliver quality care to our community.  I chose pharmacy over other professions in order to fulfill my long term goal to serve my community with the knowledge I earn from school.  My first year at PCSP has taught me a lot, and the next three years will help me achieve my goal of serving the community with compassion.  Different organizations at school sanction pharmacy related and non pharmacy related services to help educate our community.  I was involved in some of these events including immunizations, operation diabetes education, the health fair, etc.  In September, I volunteered for the health and fitness fair at Clinton High School.  It was a huge success because we were able to educate many people about diabetes and its risk factors, treatments, and life style changes.  We also encouraged people to get immunized for vaccine preventable diseases. 

During the immunization event, we gave vaccines to people and also educated them about the importance of annual vaccination. Thus, it is a learning experience about spreading awareness of disease prevention while attending pharmacy school.  We also had a medication take back day in which we collected all unused medications from the community to dispose of them safely.  It was fun because we got an opportunity to interact with the community in addition to our faculty and classmates.

I think community service is a great way to see life from a variety of angles, and it is an opportunity to give something to others without expecting anything in return.  PCSP has given us tremendous opportunities where we can find a way to not just make a difference in our lives, but also in other people’s lives.