The pharmacy college at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo launched an online resource in January for prospective students and the public to learn more about career options in the pharmacy profession.
The Pharmacy Exploration Center has information and digital activities for 18 different careers including retail, academia, clinical pharmacy, nuclear pharmacy, managed care, biotechnology and more. Users can navigate through activities for an interactive experience in the pharmacy field while also learning more about UH Hilo’s Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy.
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Lara Gomez, associate dean for academic affairs at the college, is spearheading the new project.
“As this is a recruitment tool, [the college] will be able to stay connected to those who chose to engage in the activities which can lead to a more personalized approach to recruitment,” Gomez said. “[For] example, if we notice a student engaged in the ambulatory care pharmacy module, we could tailor our approach to the prospective student and possibly connect them with an ambulatory care pharmacist if they had specific questions.”
Tracey Niimi, student support specialist at the college, said prospective students, high school and college alike, often see the pharmacy profession as only existing in community pharmacies, such as those found in grocery stores.
“But the profession offers so much more than that,” Niimi said. “In fact, pharmacy is arguably one of the most broad areas of health care you can go into because pharmacists work in many areas other than community pharmacies like hospitals, clinics, pharmaceutical companies, public health, government and higher education, just to name a few. Each of those areas have many different specialties.”
Users can navigate through the activities at their own pace on their own time. Registration is required.
Read more about the online portal at UH Hilo Stories.
—By Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories.
