Dr. Kristin Watson finds ways for student pharmacists to stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Editor's Note: This post is part of a series of Helping Hands stories authored by School of Pharmacy faculty, staff, students, trainees, and alumni who stepped up to assist their family and friends, colleagues, and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a faculty member, it’s important for me to maintain connection with the student pharmacists who are my advisees to help them navigate pharmacy school, think about career options, and to be a source of support and counsel. The pandemic has prevented face-to-face individual and group meetings, so I’ve created ways for my advisee group to stay connected virtually. Members of my first-year student pharmacists group joined me for a Pharmacy Quizzo game on May 11.
We used Zoom for our get-together, and the students seemed to have fun playing, with quite a few laughs from everyone. There were two rounds of questions with small prizes awarded to the winners of each round — congratulations to Trexy Palen and Delaney McGuirt! We took time during our “gathering” to talk about books that we have recently read or shows that we have been watching. There was definitely a consensus that we are all looking forward to a time when we can go out again to spend time with friends and loved ones, and go out to eat in a restaurant.
Did you know that Agatha Christie was a pharmacy technician? One of the Quizzo questions was, “This author, who wrote about a crime on a train, was a pharmacist technician at one point in her life.” Summer homework was assigned — read Murder on the Orient Express. Most of us had not previously read this book. I just ordered myself a copy and am looking forward to hosting a book club with the group in the fall to discuss this work.