Which student organization is the most meaningful?

[117296]

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Was looking at student organizations to take part in this coming year as a P1.

Are student organizations, mainly ASHP and APHA, worth it?

If so, which one and why?

I'm seeing a lot of threads with general info, but nothing on this question specifically.

 

[Glycerin]

Was looking at student organizations to take part in this coming year as a P1.

Are student organizations, mainly ASHP and APHA, worth it?

If so, which one and why?

I'm seeing a lot of threads with general info, but nothing on this question specifically.

Kappa Psi. 😀

In all honesty, it's a personal preference. I can give you my opinion just as well as the next student. But ultimately, it comes down to what you like and want to do. Research both organizations on a local, regional, and national level and see which you prefer, if not both. I am in both organizations as well as others.

 

[njac]

Kappa Psi.

It depends what you want and what your individual school has to offer organization wise. ASHP used to be the more prominent organization but now that we've had a bunch of national APhA officers APhA is ridiculous here. It ebbs and flows.

 

[michele_107]

Was looking at student organizations to take part in this coming year as a P1.

Are student organizations, mainly ASHP and APHA, worth it?

If so, which one and why?

I'm seeing a lot of threads with general info, but nothing on this question specifically.

I think it's very important to get involved in student organizations. I think it all depends on what you want to do. APhA is more broad, focused on the entire profession of pharmacy, while other organizations focus more on specific practice settings. For example... ASHP is mainly focused on hospital pharmacy, while NCPA is focused on community pharmacy, etc. But of course the most important organization is KE 😉

 

[Jbuprepharm]

ASHP, free dinner once a month (booze too)

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I suppose if you have no friends, they may be worthwhile. They were useless outside of that, though.

 

[117296]

I suppose if you have no friends, they may be worthwhile. They were useless outside of that, though.

LOL. You know, I expected that answer from you....

 

[rxlynn]

Was looking at student organizations to take part in this coming year as a P1.

Are student organizations, mainly ASHP and APHA, worth it?

If so, which one and why?

I'm seeing a lot of threads with general info, but nothing on this question specifically.

My personal opinion is that everyone should at least join APhA even if you don't take a really active role so that you can get access to publications (especially Pharmacy Today). Also, in your 4th year I think they give you some NAPLEX review materials for free. Other than that, it seems like a lot of it is just stuff to look good on the resume, but if you knew you had a niche area of particular interest (say independent pharmacy) then you would probably want to consider the appropriate niche group (NCPA, in the case of ind.). I didn't do fraternity, so can't comment on that.

 

[GatorRxGirl]

kappa EPSILON.

join apha no matter what you want to do. join ASHP if you're interested in hospital pharmacy.

join everything for free food (and alcohol).

 

[Sevarious]

If you want to socialize then I would recommend joining one of the professional fraternities.

If there is a specific pharmacy niche you are interested (or become interested) in such as independent community, nuclear, long term care, etc. look to see if there is an organization for it. You could gain a lot of contacts and information through it. Also consider ASHP (I think its ASHP?) because they are big into promoting pharmacy residencies.

If all you want to do is be a normal retail or hospital pharmacist and already have enough of a social life to keep you happy, skip the organizations and save all the money you would otherwise pay in dues.

 

[bacillus1]

We get our dues waived for one professional organization, so I've been in APhA since freshman year. It's a pretty good organization and does a lot of stuff (me, does not do so much stuff, but hopefully that'll change). I've heard lots of good things about ASHP, so I'm considering doing both (though of course I'll have to pay the ASHP dues).

And lol at Kappa Psi. It's not even an official frat at my school anymore since it got closed down in 2006, for hazing or something like that (I do know they dyed their pledges purple). It's still operating underground tho, with its own house and its own parties.

 

[Glycerin]

And lol at Kappa Psi. It's not even an official frat at my school anymore since it got closed down in 2006, for hazing or something like that (I do know they dyed their pledges purple). It's still operating underground tho, with its own house and its own parties.

One poor chapter doesn't define an entire fraternity on a national, or even a regional, level. LoL at that. 😛

 

[bacillus1]

One poor chapter doesn't define an entire fraternity on a national, or even a regional, level. LoL at that. 😛

I know, and I'm not saying Kappa psi is bad. Just laughing at the fact that you're calling a fraternity a professional pharmacy org. and stating what I think of when I hear Kappa Psi (just to elicit laughs). I know that our "chapter" says nothing about the fraternity as a whole

 

[Caverject]

I know, and I'm not saying Kappa psi is bad. Just laughing at the fact that you're calling a fraternity a professional pharmacy org. and stating what I think of when I hear Kappa Psi (just to elicit laughs). I know that our "chapter" says nothing about the fraternity as a whole

that's exactly why they are not apart of the kappa psi fraternity anymore. Kinda sad too since philly has over 100 years worth of history and it all was washed away...

 

[Caverject]

Was looking at student organizations to take part in this coming year as a P1.

Are student organizations, mainly ASHP and APHA, worth it?

If so, which one and why?

I'm seeing a lot of threads with general info, but nothing on this question specifically.

join a fraternity...2 years after you graduate, no one will give a crap about any contributions you made in APhA or ASHP. History lives a little longer in a good fraternity chapter, regardless of it being Kappa Psi, Kappa Epsilion, LKS, or *gasp* Phi Delta Chi.

 

[GatorRxGirl]

That's why I was very active in my undergrad social sorority. There's a lot of Greeks in pharmacy school. You may want to look into it if you're willing to have some non-pharmacy EC's.

 

[Hels2007]

I would join APhA and one of the fraternities (I was Kappa Epsilon myself, but the choice should be made based on who is in each fraternity - join the one where you like the people better in your particular chapter). APhA gives you access to a few perks, like foreign exchange, for example, and free food at meetings, and usually they are the biggest organization around so they have the biggest events, both for philanthropy and for the socials. The national meetings are fun too, and being involved on the national or regional level.

 

[twester]

At my school, SNPhA is the largest organization. The focus is underserved populations. We work with almost every minority population in Denver Metro - Latino, Black, Indian, GLBT, Asian. We also reach out to the rural population during the National Western Stock show in January. We participate in several health fairs each semester and have other opportunies for outreach during the school year and over the summer. It's the only organization I've been involved with although I keep joining APhA for some reason.