For the seventh consecutive year, a chapter from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy has won the Florida Society of Health-System Pharmacists’, or FSHP, Student Society of the Year. The Gainesville chapter took home top honors in 2020-21 and was presented the award on Aug. 5, during FSHP’s Annual Meeting in Orlando. The Student Society of the Year award is given annually to the chapter that demonstrates outstanding achievements in FSHP membership activities, individual professional leadership, career development, legislative involvement, patient care activities and more.
While the COVID-19 pandemic forced many of the traditional chapter events to go virtual, including the annual Residency Forum and Mentor Night events, the chapter found ways to make the best of the situation. The virtual events offered opportunities to feature speakers outside of Gainesville, and chapter members were able to interact with pharmacy leaders around the country. For an innovative project, they created a Resiliency and Wellness Series where chapter members took walks or worked out every Wednesday at a local park. The series was an outlet for people to de-stress from school and life while building new relationships safely.
“Even though it was a hard year for membership and involvement, our team was able to be creative and come up with ways to make the virtual format engaging,” said Abbie Lipe, a third-year Pharm.D. student and president of the Gainesville Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists, or SSHP, chapter for 2021-22. “It means so much to win the FSHP Student Society of the Year award and know our hard work was rewarded. I’m so proud of all of our officers and what we were able to accomplish in 2020-21.”
The Gainesville SSHP chapter features 130 members. Its faculty advisors are Richard Segal, Ph.D., R.Ph., M.S. a professor of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy, and Lindsey Childs-Kean, Pharm.D., M.P.H., a clinical associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research. The Gainesville chapter previously won the award in 2015 and 2020, while the UF College of Pharmacy’s other campus winners included St. Petersburg (2016 and 2017), Jacksonville (2018) and Orlando (2019).