August 27, 2024
The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy has strong ties to the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA). Fourth year PharmD candidates, Tazche Turner and Ashley Addison, were recently elected as SNPhA’s national president and vice president, respectively.
The purpose of SNPhA is to plan, organize, coordinate, and execute programs that improve the health, educational, and social environment of minority communities. Both Turner and Addison have been involved with the organization since their first year at the School.
“Coming into pharmacy school, I always knew that I wanted to join SNPhA,” said Turner. “Its mission is to serve the underserved and address the health care disparities that are predominately affecting minority communities.”
Turner’s connection with the mission stems from personal experience in watching her family be negatively impacted from preventable diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and stroke. Diseases that could have been avoided with increased access to care, affordable health care, and awareness of available resources.
She joined the School’s local chapter of SNPhA her first year and held numerous leadership positions before being elected as national president-elect in her third year. After a year of preparation, she was officially sworn in as national president at the 2024 National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA)/SNPhA National Convention in August.
“It’s a full-circle moment for me, from being involved as a PY1 and aspiring to be on the national board to now serving as the national president — it’s an experience I never imagined would truly happen, so I’m just really blessed and excited for this opportunity,” she said. As president, her goals center around emphasizing connections within three different communities – those experiencing homelessness, pre-pharmacy students, and current SNPhA members.
Growing up, her family ran a non-profit dedicated to serving those experiencing homelessness, so she aspires to make an even larger impact within that community when it comes to health care accessibility. Investing in SNPhA’s pre-pharmacy members is strategic in order to grow the field and boost pharmacy school applications and enrollment across the country.
“When I aspired to be on the board, I was looking for a role that would allow me to have a larger impact and a larger reach on the overall progress of the organization and within our underserved communities,” she said.
When Addison was in her first year, she officially joined SNPhA after visiting the student carnival during orientation, but it wasn’t the first time she had heard of the organization.
“I had several mentors who served previously on the national board of both SNPhA and NPhA,” said Addison. “Before entering pharmacy school, they told me all about the organization and its opportunities, and it really aligned with my passion for working in underserved communities, due to my experience of growing up in a rural, underserved town in South Carolina.”
She also served the local chapter in a variety of leadership roles, and most recently served as chapter president during the 2023-2024 academic year. During the national convention, she was most excited to connect with other students and see how the School’s chapter performed.
“It was rewarding to see the impact we were able to make, and see all our hard work pay off,” she said.
The School had 11 students attend the national convention in Los Angeles. In addition to being one of the finalists for Large Size Chapter of the Year, the team walked away with second place in the Walmart Prescription for Service competition, which encompassed their service project on improving health disparities and access to care in Conetoe, North Carolina.
Personally, Addison was awarded National Chapter President of the Year and received the Terrence and Terri Burroughs Endowed Scholarship. She ended the convention with her national vice president speech during the House of Delegates campaigning session.
“When campaigning for national vice president, I really wanted to focus on collaborative initiatives to work with chapters across SNPhA and also expand our community partnerships in order to reach more patients in underserved communities,” she said.
Both Turner and Addison are planning for their future careers, and their involvement with SNPhA has given each of them qualities to succeed.
“I plan to use my clinical knowledge from pharmacy school and use the professional development and leadership skills gained from SNPhA to become an effective leader who advocates for change within the pharmaceutical industry,” said Addison.
“As I lead the most important thing is to always keep the SNPhA member in mind,” said Turner. “Even though I’m not directly interacting with members every day, everything I’m doing is for them. I can translate that to my career in the pharmaceutical industry by making sure I’m always staying grounded in the patient and their needs.”
Magdalene Mallory, PharmD candidate class of 2026, is also serving on the national board as the National Project Keepsake Chair, which leads SNPhA’s initiative for chronic kidney disease awareness.
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