Welcome to the home of the American Pharmacist Association Academy of Student Pharmacist, APhA-ASP, at the University Of Georgia College Of Pharmacy.  We are proud to be the largest student organization at the College of Pharmacy adding close to a hundred new members every year.  Our chapter represents one school out of the 101 schools and colleges of pharmacy nationwide that have members of ASP.  At the College of Pharmacy, ASP plays a key role in helping students navigate through pharmacy school, explore careers in pharmacy, and connect with others in the profession.  Members are able to network locally with the Georgia Pharmacy Association, GPhA, and nationally with the American Pharmacists Association, APhA.  Our members experience a variety of benefits including professional development resources, career guidance and networking opportunities, leadership development, and student savings. Our Mission is “to be the collective voice of student pharmacists, to provide opportunities for professional growth and to envision and actively promote the future of pharmacy.”

           Beginning in the spring, ASP provides a multitude of learning opportunities for students.  We are excited to present our new and improved spring health fair, Pharmfest, at Bishop Park on April 11^th.  Our chapter will be partnering with Mercer University College of Pharmacy and South University School of Pharmacy to provide a statewide health fair with valuable health information and screenings to the Spanish-speaking community.  This health fair provides an apt opportunity for our members to use what they have learned in school to promote the unique abilities of pharmacist to the community while raising health awareness.  Also in the spring, we will be holding the third annual Gala, sponsored by CVS, which is unique in that it is one of the few occasions where students and faculty can connect outside of the School of Pharmacy.  The event will include a formal dinner, DJ, and awards and honors to recognize outstanding students and faculty.

          Our organization provides many students with the opportunities to learn from and network with pharmacist from within our state as well as around the nation.  As always, we look forward to APhA-ASP’s national convention which will be held in San Antonio in April.  Students will be able to participate in workshops and explore opportunities for their future.  In the summer, our members can share these experiences on a local level at the GPhA convention.  Every February, working with GPhA, over 100 students will join with pharmacists state wide to communicate with legislators from their own home towns.  The motivating purpose is to encourage our own legislators to pass laws and regulations favoring the future of pharmacy and patient care.

          The fall is always filled with a wealth of exciting new avenues for our members to partake and learn from.  Our most exciting undertaking in the fall will be Dawgtoberfest, a health fair to provide education and screenings to our fellow students and faculty at the University.  With the vital support of Walgreens, ASP was able to host the largest and most successful fair this past year.  Thanks to the Athens Community Health Department we were able to distribute 300 flu shots to students and faculty for free!  We are looking forward to similar success in the upcoming year. 

          As an organization centered on pharmaceutical care, we make it our mission to help further progress in developing key skills in patient care.  We encourage molding the future of pharmacy towards unique recognition of our indispensable contributions in the community.  At the end of each year, ASP holds a patient counseling competition which helps students to polish up on how to better care for patients and proving to them the invaluable services that we provide.  The top ten students receive gifts from APhA and the winner receives a free trip to the national convention.

          All in all, this year in ASP will be a rush of new experiences, friendships, networking connections, and lasting memories.  None of this success would be possible without the imperative contributions UGA’s faculty and the members of ASP which are the heart of this organization.  We look forward to a superior year to come in bettering ourselves as student pharmacist, our future patients in quality of care, and laying the future of pharmacy as a whole.

 Walter Thomas Williams

 APhA-ASP Chapter President

 University of Georgia