Archive for the ‘PCD Staff’ Category

This month, we are joined at Plain City Druggist by Dakota Arledge, a fourth-year pharmacy student from The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Dakota will graduate in May 2024 with his PharmD degree and will then take the test to become a registered pharmacist. Dakota will be with Tayler and the gang here in Plain City throughout June, so please stop by and meet him while he is here.

Here is what Dakota tells us about himself:

I am Dakota Arledge, a P4 Ohio State University PharmD student who is currently living in Columbus.

I grew up around Athens, which is a small college town in the south east of Ohio. Athens is home to Ohio University, which is where I completed my undergraduate degree. I graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, which was my favorite subject throughout school.

In my undergraduate years, I was originally unsure of what career path I wanted to pursue. I started out as a pre-medicine chemistry major, but eventually decided I wanted to do something that had more of an emphasis on chemistry than biology. After hearing a talk from a representative of Ohio State’s pharmacy school admissions, I was eventually convinced to pursue pharmacy.

I think one of the biggest selling points in choosing pharmacy was the fact that pharmacists can exercise their expertise nearly anywhere. Pharmacists can practice in a large range of locations and have many more specialties than people may first realize, allowing them to have a bit more freedom to choose where they live and work.

For the past year, I have worked as a pharmacy intern at a Kroger pharmacy in Whitehall, Ohio.

After graduation this next year, I plan on moving to Florida to live closer to my sister who currently works at Kroger as a pharmaceutical sales representative. Initially, I’ll likely continue to work for Kroger in a community setting and slowly begin to pay off my student debt. Eventually, I hope to get to a point where I can become more financially independent and experienced, allowing me to practice outside of a large pharmacy chain.

In my experience, I’ve always enjoyed the environment of independent pharmacies. They seem like great places to both shop and work. Whenever I visit an independent pharmacy, I always feel like they have a more laidback and personal touch to them, in contrast with the chaotic environment that seems to come with many larger chain pharmacies.

In the future I wouldn’t mind working for a smaller pharmacy; my sister has even discussed with me the idea of eventually opening our own small pharmacy sometime in the distant future. It’s definitely something I keep mind the back of my mind as I take steps toward the development of my career.

In my spare time, I enjoy exercising, reading history, and golfing with friends.

This month, we are joined at Happy Druggist on Karl Road by Anna Rader, a fourth-year pharmacy student from The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Anna will graduate in May 2024 with her PharmD degree and will then take the test to become a registered pharmacist. Anna will be with Kristie and the staff on Karl Road throughout the coming year as a Partners for Promotion student, so please stop by and meet her while she is in the pharmacy.

Here is what Anna tells us about herself:

My name is Anna Rader, and I am currently a fourth-year pharmacy student at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy.  As a part of my final year, I am involved with the Partners for Promotion program with the goal to expand patient care services at Happy Druggist. I look forward to learning more about independent pharmacies throughout the year.

I graduated from OSU in 2019 with my Bachelors of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences, but I have known since graduating high school that I wanted to pursue pharmacy. I started working at CVS in July 2015 and I have been there ever since. Over the years, working as both a technician and an intern, I have a detailed understanding of how community pharmacy works. CVS has also given me the invaluable patient care experience that I will take with me throughout my career. I thoroughly enjoy community pharmacy, being able to build relationships with patients and see their progression over time.

I have not had much exposure to independent pharmacy, but I am excited by the opportunity to learn more about independent pharmacy compared to retail chains.

After graduation, my current plan is to complete a residency in Ambulatory Care and eventually become an Ambulatory Care pharmacist. I want to explore the different ambulatory care options, but right now I am interested the most in internal medicine.

Outside of pharmacy, I love to go to movies and spend as much time as possible with my family. I have a 7-year-old sister who I can’t get enough of. Our favorite thing to do together is go to Johnson’s Ice Cream for a treat!

This month and throughout the coming months, we are joined at Happy Druggist on Karl Road by Hannah Hagar, a fourth-year pharmacy student from The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Hannah will graduate in May 2024 with her PharmD degree and will then take the test to become a registered pharmacist. Hannah will be with Kristie and the staff on Karl Road throughout the coming year as a Partners for Promotion student, so please stop by and meet her while she is in the pharmacy.

Here is what Hannah tells us about herself:

My name is Hannah Hagar and I’m a fourth-year pharmacy student at The Ohio State University. I am part of the Partner for Promotion (PFP) program at Ohio State and will be working with the pharmacy team during 2023-2024 to implement expanded patient care services. I am excited to have the opportunity to learn more about community pharmacies through this experience.

I graduated from OSU in 2019 with my Bachelors in Pharmaceutical Sciences and have always had an interest in healthcare and science.

In high school, we were able to do a mentorship program where I mentored with an optometrist. Watching her interactions with patients confirmed my interest in healthcare. I decided pharmacy was the right path for me when I took an addicting drugs’ class during my freshman year of undergrad. I figured I should try to learn more about pharmacy at that point, and started working at CVS Pharmacy in June of 2016. I progressed in my role there throughout the years as a technician to inventory specialist, and, eventually, now as an intern. These work roles gave me a full understanding of the ins and outs of pharmacy and gave me valuable experience in patient care.

Currently, my interest upon graduation is a career in community pharmacy, but I am looking forward to seeing other areas of pharmacy throughout my APPE year.

My interests outside of school include cooking and sharing my homemade meals with family and friends. My favorite meal to make is zucchini lasagna.

For the months of December and January, we are joined at Plain City Druggist by Ike Nnyamah, a fourth-year pharmacy student from The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Ike will graduate in May 2023 with his PharmD degree and will then take the test to become a registered pharmacist. Ike will be with Tayler and the gang here in Plain City throughout December and January, so please stop by and meet him while he is here.

Here is what Ike tells us about himself:

My name is Ike Nnyamah and I am a fourth-year pharmacy student at The Ohio State University college of Pharmacy. I am delighted to be learning more about independent community pharmacy operations for the months of December and January at Plain City Druggist.

I am originally from New Jersey where I attended Rutgers University. While there I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in biotechnology, and plant science.

Initially I was not interested in entering the medical field; however during my undergraduate career I came to admire many aspects of medicine. I was excited to learn how antibiotics target bacteria, but not us. I was equally enthusiastic about creating aspirin from its natural product during class. During a lesson, my instructor made a joke that I might want to give pharmacy a try because I had done particularly well during that class. I surprised him by admitting that learning about medications had become my new passion, and that I would give it serious thought.

I proceeded to work as a pharmacy technician for a few years as a way to test the waters and determine if the profession was the correct path for me. The pharmacists I worked with were passionate about service and very knowledgeable. This left a lasting impression on me, and I decided this path was the best way to indulge my excitement regarding new medications, and as a way to help people.

I relocated to Columbus, OH in 2016 to start my education at The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy. However during my education, I sustained a serious injury that temporarily put my education on hold. I am proud I was able to overcome this challenge and complete my education, and I hope anyone hearing my story will be inspired to continue pursuing their passion through any adversity they may be facing.

A few of my passions in pharmacy include compounding, infectious diseases, and oncology. I think the most satisfying part of pharmacy is educating patients about the medications they have been prescribed, and empowering them to understand more about selecting the right medications for themselves.

I have not decided where I would prefer to practice after I have graduated, but I have been leaning towards a career in community pharmacy.

Please welcome our first year pharmacy intern, Collin Schmaldinst. We hope to be able to keep him with us for his entire four years of pharmacy school.

Collin is a current student at the College of Pharmacy at The Ohio State University. Before attending OSU, he received his Undergraduate degree at The University of Washington in Seattle, WA in Biology Molecular Cell Development.

After graduating high school from Independence High School in Charlotte, NC, Collin joined the US Army as a Korean Cryptologic Linguist. He graduated from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA, and spent the next six years in various duty stations in the United States and in South Korea.

Working as an intern at Plain City Druggist, Collin looks toward his future in pharmacy. In an attempt to gather more experience in a community and independent pharmacy, Collin sought this form of pharmacy to learn how to better take care of his current and future community.

With the desire to be a family man, he would like to be known as a reliable source for medications and medication information to his community.