For the fourth time in as many years, 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 received the award during the FSHP Annual Meeting in Orlando, Aug. 4-6.
It’s the ninth consecutive year a student chapter from the UF College of Pharmacy has won the statewide award. The Gainesville chapter previously won in 2015 and 2020 to 2022, while the UF College of Pharmacy’s other recent campus winners included St. Petersburg (2016 and 2017), Jacksonville (2018) and Orlando (2019).
The Student Society of the Year award is given annually to the chapter that demonstrates outstanding achievements in FSHP membership activities. The selection criteria are based on a point system that considers attendance at the annual meeting, individuals serving in professional leadership roles and the society’s participation in community service and fundraising events.
“Winning the FSHP Student Society of the Year award is an incredible achievement for our Gainesville chapter,” said Jarmal Hall, a third-year student pharmacist and president of the Gainesville Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists, or SSHP, chapter for 2023-24. “This award reflects the hard work, dedication and involvement of our SSHP members.”
Hall gives credit to past-president Hannah Reynolds for leading the 153 members of the Gainesville SSHP chapter through another successful year. The chapter organized many different activities to engage its membership, including shadowing opportunities with professional pharmacists, virtual and on-campus residency showcases, a mentoring night to connect students with pharmacists in different fields and social activities each semester.
Lindsey Childs-Kean, Pharm.D., M.P.H., BCPS, a clinical associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research, and Richard Segal, Ph.D., R.Ph., M.S., a professor and interim chair of the department of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy, served as the Gainesville SSHP chapter advisors.