School of Pharmacy Students Visit Capitol Hill

Students from the School’s Effective Leadership and Advocacy course meet with federal legislators to put their new found skills to the test

By Rita Kasliwal
October 21, 2008

Leadership and advocacy are two basic principles embraced by the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, its faculty and students. On October 14, dozens of School of Pharmacy students and faculty traveled to Capitol Hill to conduct legislative visits and to put their leadership and advocacy abilities to the test.

Through the School’s Effective Leadership and Advocacy (ELA) elective course, second and third year students have the unique opportunity to learn about different leadership styles as well as important elements of advocacy and how to be influential. In addition, students expand upon previous experience they may have from participating in the School of Pharmacy’s annual state legislative day in Annapolis, held in collaboration with the Maryland Pharmacy Coalition.

ELA is taught by Robert Beardsley, PhD, a professor of pharmaceutical health services research, and Cynthia Boyle, PharmD, an associate professor of pharmacy practice and science and director of the School’s Experiential Learning Program. It has been taught eight times, four of which were in partnership with the School of Pharmacy at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) where the curriculum was offered to students there via live videoconferencing. This semester’s Capitol Hill visit also included the course’s traditional etiquette dinner with students from VCU.

As student pharmacists and voting constituents, ELA students met with congressional healthcare staff members on Capitol Hill during their day in Washington, DC, and discussed issues such as the pharmacist’s role in healthcare reform, reimbursement for Medication Therapy Management services, and educational loan reimbursement for student pharmacists specializing in care for geriatric patients. The staff members represented the offices of Congressman C.A Dutch Ruppersberger (Maryland’s 2nd District), Congressman Chris Van Hollen (Maryland’s 8th District), Congressman Elijah Cummings (Maryland’s 7th District), Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (Maryland’s 6th District), Congressman John Sarbanes (Maryland’s 3rd District), and Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski. The visits allowed students to apply what they learned in the ELA course to real life as they spoke with those who can influence legislation.

“More than anything, the visits on Capitol Hill helped reduce the nervousness and anxiety associated with talking to legislators,” said Kathleen Morneau, a second year PharmD student. “Our visits also helped us become more confident in expressing our thoughts and increased our excitement about advocating for our profession.”

In the evening, School of Pharmacy students met with their counterparts from VCU as they participated in an etiquette dinner sponsored by Walgreens at the Hyatt Regency Hotel near Capitol Hill. Here, students learned the dos and don’ts of networking and business dining etiquette and spent the evening interacting with one another. Students from both schools learned that they were members of similar organizations and were able to share their experiences and ideas with one another.

“The etiquette dinner was valuable to me because it brought up interesting points about how to start and end conversations with people at professional events,” said Sharonjit Sagoo, a third year PharmdD student.

“As future pharmacists, ELA students are preparing to be life long advocates for patients and for their profession,” says Boyle. “Interactions with legislators while in school will allow these students to feel comfortable and develop skills they can use when they start practicing pharmacy.”

ELA students will use their advocacy and leadership skills again during the School’s next state legislative day on February 12, 2009.