ACP welcomes 64 first year pharmacy students

Oakwood, VA — Sixty-four students arrived on the campus of the Appalachian College of Pharmacy last week to begin their studies leading to a doctor of pharmacy degree in Virginia’s only three-year doctor of pharmacy program.

Students in the incoming class of 2023 represent 19 different states including Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Maryland, Michigan, Arizona, California, Missouri, Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Mississippi.

Second year students also returned to the classroom this month, marking the first time in-person classes and activities have occurred on campus since the campus shut down, as did other schools, colleges and universities in the Commonwealth at the start of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Arriving on campus this semester, students have their temperatures taken and in the classroom, students and faculty members are required to wear masks. Seating is spaced out to conform with current health department social distancing guidelines of six feet.

ACP’s traditional white coat ceremony, signifying first year class members’ entrance into the profession of pharmacy, usually held on the third day of the new academic year, has been postponed until later in the academic year.

Third year pharmacy students are not on campus and are currently out on rotation.

During opening day activities on Wednesday, ACP Dean Susan Mayhew welcomed students, acknowledging that showing up in a classroom with masks and having to sit six feet away from other students was an “unusual way to start the school year,” quipping she was smiling under her mask and adding with sincerity, “I wish I could see your smiling faces too.”

She told students that in making the decision to attend ACP, they had chosen well.

“I know there is a little anxiety out there and I know things are different now,” Mayhew said, “but we will get through this and things will get back to normal before you know it.”

Mayhew told students the fact that they were sitting in an ACP classroom was evidence, “we believe you will be successful in this program.” She added, “you are responsible for learning and you control the degree of success you have in this program.”

The keys to that success, she said, are good study habits, time management and balance.

“Consider this program your full-time job for the next three years,” she said, adding that developing good study habits from the start and being disciplined in maintaining those make all the difference.

From their first days at ACP, she told students they serve as ambassadors for the profession of pharmacy, for themselves and for the college. She read aloud the ACP Mission statement and noted, “from this day forward, you are an ambassador for the Appalachian College of Pharmacy and for the profession of pharmacy.”

Mayhew noted the three-year program at ACP is fast-paced, but she added, “everyone here has the ability to be successful, or you would not be sitting here today.”

Throughout the week, students took part in orientation sessions focusing on a variety of topics — from curriculum, experiential education and technology policies, computer usage and software training to student services, money management, community service and campus safety. They also heard from ACP graduate and a current ACP Fellow, Dr. Lindsay Ratliff, who provided tips for success.

“Thank you for choosing ACP and I hope you take advantage of all the student support services we have here,” Mayhew said. “We have a great faculty and staff and we try to get to know each of our students.”