Reaching Out
TCOP Student Pharmacists Administer Blood Pressure Screenings at the Annual Walmart/Sam’s Club SNPhA National Diabetes Health Fair
This year’s Walmart/Sam’s Club Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) National Diabetes Health Fair was a rousing success, as usual. Fourteen student volunteers from Touro College of Pharmacy, supervised by faculty preceptor Dr. Vinnie Dam, performed blood pressure screenings and medication therapy reviews for approximately 60 patients at the Sam’s Club in Secaucus, New Jersey. Dr. Marla Bowie and Dr. Deji Akinboye, two TCOP alumni (now practicing pharmacists) also joined to help proctor the event.
P4 student Kingsley Ohikuare, president of SNPhA’s Touro chapter, said it was “rewarding to know that I was impacting an individual's life, whether directly or indirectly.” He said that many participants looked calm and at ease, knowing that access to a health and physical assessment was readily available.
“This was a wonderful way to collaborate with a local pharmacy in order to provide services to the public and help serve our community,” agreed Rima Jani, P2, TouroCOP’s SNPhA Diabetes Initiative Chair. “It was also another great experience for us to put the clinical skills we’ve learned to practice.”
