Two Pharm.D. students at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy were awarded the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists Foundation’s Defining the Future grant.
PY4 Abby MacCauley and PY3 Ashley Kang’s project won one of four $1,500 Defining the Future grants nationwide. Their project is a parallel assessment of pharmacist and pharmacy student wellness in mental, physical and personal health.
“This is really the first time that anyone has looked at pharmacist and pharmacy student wellness in a comprehensive, holistic manner,” MacCauley said. “By looking at different aspects of health, we hope to find connections between them and help employers and pharmacy schools develop strategies to address wellness early on.”
MacCauley is investigating current pharmacy students as part of her fourth-year research project. Kang’s research into pharmacists’ well-being is part of her Research and Scholarship in Pharmacy project with the School.
The two students plan to conduct their survey from late October until the end of the year and submit an abstract to present a poster at CPNP’s annual meeting in April 2019.
The CPNP Foundation awards the Defining the Future grant annually, to projects focused on the field of neuropsychiatric pharmacy. The CPNP Foundation works to improve pharmacy professionals’ capacity to treat individuals with mental disorders.