Abby Nolan Catherman has only lived in North Carolina since 2015, but she’s already on her way to make a lasting impact in the state.
Catherman is a second-year student at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Asheville campus. She’s currently in her first year as a Rural Pharmacy Scholar, a unique program in Asheville that prepares Pharm.D. students to practice in rural North Carolina – one reason she chose UNC. Through their studies, scholars focus on community service and the social determinants of health.
She was also recently selected to join UNC’s Rural Interprofessional Longitudinal Scholars (RIPLS) program, a three-year joint program through the University’s health professions schools. Participating students take part in seminars, a population health course and a summer immersion experience.
“I wanted to join RIPLS to work on an interprofessional team with similar goals and to help me grow a skill set to be an effective healthcare provider in a rural setting,” Catherman said. “I think by working and networking with a talented and inspiring group of people will help us create more equity in healthcare delivery in rural areas.”
After moving from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, Catherman started working as a pharmacy technician in a small town outside of Asheville. She said after pursuing different career options in healthcare, her experience as a technician helped her decide on pharmacy school.
“I grew up in a rural area and witnessed how social determinants of health and health disparities can impact a person’s care,” she said. “In order for people to best benefit from any treatment, they need to have barriers removed and strategies implemented to improve their access to care and overall wellbeing. I want to live in a rural community and also give back to that community by helping to tackle some of these barriers to high-quality health care.”
Catherman is also involved as a student leader in Asheville. She’s the president-elect for the Asheville-Carolina Association of Pharmacy Students, a student group that provides flu shot clinics and blood pressure screenings. She’s also a pharmacy student leader for Beyond Clinic Walls, where students from pharmacy, medicine, social work and nursing collaborate to serve one patient for the academic year.
Through her community service, Catherman said she’s presented to retirement homes on proper medication use, and to middle schoolers on careers in pharmacy.
After graduation, Catherman hopes to gain more clinical experience through a residency in ambulatory care, and ultimately practice in western North Carolina. She said she was excited to continue serving rural patients alongside the other RIPLS students.
“Upon finishing a residency program, I plan to work in a rural clinic on an interprofessional health team,” she said.