For the third consecutive year, the University of Florida College of Pharmacy’s Gainesville chapter has won the Florida Society of Health-System Pharmacists, or FSHP, Student Society of the Year Award. The chapter’s leadership was presented with the award on Aug. 4 at the FSHP 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.
“It is an honor to be named the FSHP Student Society of the Year,” said Hannah Reynolds, a third-year Pharm.D. student and president of the Gainesville Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists, or SSHP, chapter for 2022-23. “This would not have been possible without the hard work of all our officers, chairs and advisors over the past year. The award motivates us to broaden and deepen the legacy and impact of our student chapter to leave a lasting impression on future generations.”
Despite numerous challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gainesville SSHP chapter organized many successful events in 2021 and 2022. They held a Mentor Night, hosted a Practice Advancement Initiative Week and scheduled lunch and learn meetings to provide networking activities that expanded the membership’s knowledge of health-system pharmacy. The chapter also hosted its annual Residency Forum and launched a Residency Prep Series which gave students opportunities to interact with pharmacy residents and residency directors. Finally, the membership participated in several different community service events, including a Hurricane Ida Relief Drive, Relay for Life, Soles for Shoes and volunteered at the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank.
The Gainesville SSHP chapter features 147 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, 2020 and 2021, while the UF College of Pharmacy’s other recent campus winners included St. Petersburg (2016 and 2017), Jacksonville (2018) and Orlando (2019).