As AACP’s new Executive Vice President and CEO, Lee Vermeulen intends to promote the value of pharmacists while developing more innovative practice models to boost pharmacy school enrollment. Lee Vermeulen got his first glimpse into pharmacy while dusting shelves as a five-year-old at the hospital pharmacy where his father worked in Western New York. His father, the hospital’s first pharmacist, convinced the medical director to bring him on as he had been working at the community pharmacy for years, and immediately started making innovative moves.

The University of Minnesota’s Center for Orphan Drug Research wants to illuminate the struggles facing patients with rare diseases. Their unconventional approach? A stage production. Rare diseases are formidable, presenting challenging and complex uncertainties that would make for dramatic stories in the hands of great playwrights like Shakespeare or Sophocles. The Center for Orphan Drug Research (CODR) at the University of Minnesota (UMN) College of Pharmacy is tapping into that premise in a big way.

A University of Pittsburgh collaboration demonstrates that partnership between pharmacists and audiologists can promote patient hearing health. In October 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed a rule to create a new category of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. This would allow some hearing aids to be sold directly to consumers without requiring a medical exam or a fitting by an audiologist.

Post-Summit Survey Recommendations

The purpose of this survey was to identify the most impactful recommendations from the Summit. The recommendations, derived from the breakout-group takeaways, were divided into two or more sections under each Summit topic:

The application cycle for the Walmart Health Equity Scholarship for Pharmacy Students program is now open. Meet the recipients of the 2023 scholarship.

Program Information

The Walmart Health Equity Scholarship for Pharmacy Students will be awarded to seven (7) outstanding Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree students who are accepted or enrolled in the professional curriculum at a U.S. college or school of pharmacy. Selected awardees must demonstrate leadership, academic success, and a commitment to serving rural or medically underserved patient populations. Each awardee will receive a single $5,000 scholarship. 

Goal of the Program

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) and Walmart are committed to promoting education and healthcare access to improve health for all. The Walmart Health Equity Scholarship for Pharmacy Students will support the financial need of students enrolled in Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree programs who plan to serve in rural areas, medically underserved areas or populations (MUA/Ps), or Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) upon graduation. The goal of the scholarship program is to promote and support a diverse population of student pharmacists who will advance health equity. 

Eligibility Requirements

Scholarship applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Eligible student statuses during the 2024-25 Program:
  • Accepted into a professional Pharm.D. program for the 2024 entering class (i.e. P1 student during the 2024-25 academic year)
  • Enrolled as a P2 or P3 Pharm.D. student in a 4-year program
  • Enrolled as a P2 Pharm.D. student in an accelerated 3-year program 
  • Enrolled as a P3 through P5 (out of P6) student in a 0-6/7 program
• Students must demonstrate leadership, academic success, and a commitment to serving rural, medically underserved areas or populations (MUA/Ps), or Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) upon graduation from a Pharm.D. degree program.
• Only US citizens and permanent US residents are eligible.
• Students must be in good standing (minimum 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale) at their current (or most recent) institution at the time of application. Applicants from schools with other grading systems are still eligible to apply for the scholarship.
• Students must submit a completed application by the deadline.
• If a scholarship is awarded to an accepted (not yet enrolled) pharmacy student, the award will be granted to the institution after the individual has started classes in the Pharm.D. program.
• Awardees will be ineligible to apply for this scholarship again in the future.
• Students who will graduate from a Pharm.D. program in 2024 are NOT eligible for the scholarship.
• There are no conditions to the scholarship. You do not have to work for Walmart nor commit to working for them in the future.

Scholarship Notification

1. Completed applications are due by July 29, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Time (HT).
2. Scholarship recipients will be notified by September 12, 2024.
3. Funds will be forwarded to the student’s institution by October 2024.
4. AACP will announce the scholarship recipients on the AACP and Pharmacy is Right for Me websites and social media.
5. Walmart may also release related announcements about the scholarship recipients via the company's communication channels.

Scholarship Payments

A single scholarship in the amount of $5,000 each will be awarded to each scholarship recipient. AACP will pay the scholarship funds for each awardee directly to the pharmacy college or school where the student is enrolled. Funds will be dispersed by October 2024 after the awardee’s initial or ongoing enrollment in a Pharm.D. program at the college or school of pharmacy is confirmed. Each institution will exclusively apply the scholarship funds to the awardee’s tuition and/or fees. An applicant may receive this scholarship only once.

Scholarship Questions

Please contact AACP staff at walmart@aacp.org with questions.

Program information and application instructions (PDF)

Welcome to the Roster of Faculty and Professional Staff. This online member service directory provides the most current and comprehensive information relating to faculty and staff at colleges and schools of pharmacy across the country. With just the click of a button, you can search for important information about a colleague’s discipline, job position or interest area, just to name a few. Be sure to follow the search directions to ensure you receive the most accurate results.

*AACP prohibits any duplication of the information in the AACP Roster of Faculty and Professional Staff for the purposes of mass distribution. If you are interested in ordering a contact list, please contact LaToya Casteel for additional information. Violation of this policy can result in a penalty fee of $1,500.

Financial support will help students’ educational commitment to serving rural or underserved communities upon graduation.

 

For Immediate Release

Contact: Maureen Thielemans, 703-408-6140

Arlington, Va.—The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy has selected 10 individuals as recipients of the Walmart Health Equity Scholarship for Pharmacy Students