July 26, 2023
Isabel Cheng, Pharm.D. candidate Class of 2024, started as a student at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy during the pandemic in 2020, which ended up being the inspiration for her research on vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy has always been present but became even more evident during COVID-19 and led to Cheng expanding a vaccine champion curriculum from the University College London (UCL) to Carolina.
Cheng discovered the vaccine champion curriculum at UCL when she was vice president of PharmAlliance in early 2021. PharmAlliance is a partnership between the School, UCL and Monash University in Australia. After hearing about the course’s success, Cheng was eager to get something started at the School.
“The goal of the course is to instill confidence in addressing vaccine hesitancy, whether you’re on the job in a community pharmacy or in your own life with family and friends,” Cheng said. She took the course and adapted it for the U.S. and added in motivational interviewing tactics along with a role-playing scenario for participants.
Cheng offered the optional course to first-year students in the summer and fall of 2021 with faculty support. At the end of the course, each participant was challenged with an action item—either talking with someone they knew with vaccine hesitancy or doing an activity that promoted vaccinations. Cheng heard several positive stories from those who spoke with family members incorporating skills they learned from the course. The curriculum continued to move across the globe—Monash incorporated the course, then UNC Project Malawi and Paris-Saclay University.
In 2022, Cheng and Nusayba Ali, the student who championed the curriculum at UCL, had the opportunity to present a poster on the vaccine champion curriculum at the International Pharmaceutical Federation World Congress in Seville, Spain. After working together for over a year, this was the first time they met in person.
After a rewarding experience in Spain, it was recommended that Cheng apply for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Annual Meeting in 2023, and the project was accepted for a special podium presentation. Cheng, along with Amanda Savage, Pharm.D., assistant professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education, Sudaxshina Murdan, Ph.D., associate professor at UCL School of Pharmacy, Suzanne Caliph, Ph.D., senior lecturer at Monash and Hanna Kumwenda, BScPhm, research pharmacist with UNC Project Malawi, presented at AACP this week.
The team’s goal for this presentation is to encourage other faculty at pharmacy schools to use the curriculum in their own contexts. “I hope others across the academy will be inspired by and implement this program in some capacity at their home institutions,” said Savage.
Cheng started this project during her first year and presenting at AACP as a fourth-year student is the perfect ending. “I’ve always cared about public health as a personal interest, and I’m proud of the work I’ve done throughout pharmacy school. I’m very grateful for this opportunity to work with faculty and students across the world,” said Cheng.
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