This month, we are joined in the pharmacy in West Jefferson by Ray Chu, a fourth year pharmacy student from The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Ray will graduate in May 2020 and will then take the test to become a registered pharmacist. Ray will be in West Jefferson throughout July, so please stop by and meet him while he is in the store. You may have met Ray last year when he spent time in Plain City as a third year student.

Here is what Ray tells us about himself:

My name is Ray Chu. I am a fourth year pharmacy student completing my second APPE Rotation this month. I moved to Ohio from southern California for pharmacy school to escape the heat and drought and to experience a real winter. 

Growing up, I made up my mind early to go into the healthcare profession, but I had not decided a specific field. To obtain exposure to different health fields, I decided to go on several different medical mission trips abroad to South America during my undergraduate years. One of these trips was with the Peruvian American Medical Society and, as the same would suggest, I joined them on a medical mission trip to the rural Andes in Peru. My first year with them, I was a general volunteer who helped out wherever I was needed, including in the pharmacy as a technician. I enjoyed my time with them so much that I developed a passion for volunteering and returned the next year.

During my second year with the Peruvian American Medical Society, we did not have a pharmacist and since I was the only volunteer who had the most experience helping in pharmacy, I was tasked with managing the pharmacy with the help of a nurse as the clinical expert. I found that I really enjoyed pharmacy. I saw the need from the patient side as well as the health team side and saw myself doing pharmacy work as a career. That was back in 2009 and I am proud to say I have been with this mission for the past 10 years. I owe them for showing me pharmacy and I hope to give back to them as a pharmacist as long as I am able.

I am still not certain what I want to do as a pharmacist in the future. Certainly, I would like to continue to volunteer in my mission and I would also love to precept students in the future. My dream has been to one day have my own independent pharmacy and that was a major deciding factor in my choosing to have a rotation with Happy Druggist West Jefferson. Additionally, having recently had a rotation with a Chronic Care Pharmacist, I am very interested in integrating that type of pharmacy into an independent pharmacy, as well.

Besides volunteering abroad, another one of my passions is cooking. The longer and more complex the process, the more excited I am about trying out a new dish. Whenever I am asked what profession I would choose if I didn’t pick healthcare, I immediately and confidently answer that I would have opened a cafe or small restaurant. Something small enough that I could cook right in front of my customers.

I guess either way, as a chef or a pharmacist, I would be able to see and serve many people each day.