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Melissa DeBella & Francesca Amici 
USJ’s three calendar-year Pharm.D. program offers students a variety of opportunities to lead student activities that complement their education and provide a service to the community. Two current students, Amici and DeBella co-chair Generation Rx, a patient-care committee of the American Pharmacists Association, Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) to foster additional learning of safe medication practices.
Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice and faculty advisor to the APhA-ASP chapter , Corinne L. Consolini, PharmD, BCACP, noted the importance of professional workshops for USJ Pharm.D. students, “Through the organization of events such as this, USJ PharmD students gain co-curricular knowledge and accumulate leadership skills that reinforce classroom lessons. Many of these types of events also give our students the chance to network with and learn about other members of the healthcare team.”
During the fall 2020 semester, the group coordinated a Naloxone (Narcan) educational session with volunteers from American Medical Response of Greater Hartford/Northeast CT, including an informative lecture about Narcan, along with a demonstration of its administration.
DeBella said, “As future pharmacists, this is a great opportunity to re-iterate and further our knowledge on opioid medications while also placing what we learned in the classroom to real life situations. It is great training on drug safety to have under our belts moving forward as a healthcare professional overall.”
The training covers information about opioid reversal products and their formulations and pharmacology. Additionally, information was provided on how to recognize signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose, along with key points on how to counsel a layperson on how to administer Narcan to another person experiencing an overdose.
After the event, Amici remarked, “An extremely important role as future pharmacists is to consult patients on how to properly use and administer medications. During the current opioid epidemic, knowing how to educate patients and the public on how to properly administer Narcan can help save lives. Thank you to AMR for furthering our knowledge about Narcan to allow us to educate our future patients and make a difference.”
For more information about the Pharm. D. program, visit usj.edu/pharmacy.