Antonio Bush, Ph.D., assistant professor of educational innovation and research in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education, won best poster for education research at the Ninth Annual Biennial Monash Pharmacy Education Symposium. The Monash University Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Melbourne, Australia, hosts the symposium in Prato, Italy.
Bush’s poster was titled, “Preliminary Results: Exploring the Experiences and Agential Behaviors of Pharmacy Students Identifying as Underrepresented Racial Minorities (URMs).” Through 60 to 90 minute interviews with 20 students, Bush studied the strategic actions the participants took to navigate their pharmacy school experiences.
Bush studied both the social and academic experiences of the URM students he interviewed. While he is still analyzing data, Bush has concluded that his work demonstrates the need to increase research concerning pharmacy students identifying as URM as well as other minoritized groups.
The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy funded Bush’s project through the New Investigator Award he won in 2017. He said being recognized internationally for his work was exciting, and attending the symposium was one of the most impactful experiences he’s had as a scholar in pharmacy education.
“It gives me great confidence that the profession recognizes the need to broaden participation and understand the experiences of our underrepresented students,” Bush said. He continued, “However, there is more work to be done through research and practice. Diversity is essential to our advancement as a School and profession and ultimately serves to benefit the patients our students will serve.”
With the help of Danielle Allen, Ph.D., his research team’s first postdoctoral fellow of education research and innovation, Bush said he hopes to complete data analysis on the project and publish his findings. In the future, he said he will pursue more grant funding to conduct a national study and to explore URM resident and faculty experiences.
Bush said he is appreciative of the support of Dean Bob Blouin, Pharm.D.; Denise Rhoney, Pharm.D., chair of PACE; and his new-investigator-award mentor Tom Angelo, Ed.D., clinical professor of educational innovation and research.
Bush received his B.S. in early childhood education from Albany State University in 2007, his M.S.Ed. in higher education and student affairs from Indiana University in 2010 and his Ph.D. in educational research and policy analysis with a concentration in higher education administration from North Carolina State University in 2014.