EMSOP Alumni Student Support 2019

Help pharmacy students grow as professionals!

Students at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy are among the best in the country, and excel both in their studies and beyond. Conferences provide these students invaluable opportunities, which include showcasing their work, interviewing for jobs, networking, and advocating for our school. These conferences range in scope from local to national, and are associated with significant costs. The EMSOP Alumni Association is raising funds to support students in these activities.

"P4 year was very expensive (especially after Midyear and residency application fees), so I am very grateful for the alumni council’s support! At first, I only signed up for the College Bowl to have fun and maybe gauge how much I need to study for the NAPLEX. But then I saw how much I had to pay for NJSHP registration—I was quitting my technician job soon, so at the time I was extra careful about spending money. After hearing that the alumni council would cover our registration fee, I felt motivated to not only come down to Atlantic City but also do well in this competition and make EMSOP proud!" 

Mika Dy Tioco

Students face daunting costs associated with pharmacy school – tuition, room & board, textbooks, and conference-associated expenses. Student registration fees at local conferences are usually around $50, while those for national-level meetings can exceed $300. Travel and lodging add to these costs. For some students, these costs influence attendance.

Our students will directly benefit from your assistance. By donating you will alleviate conference-associated costs, enabling students to grow professionally and represent our leading pharmacy program.

"I entered my fourth professional year of pharmacy school with the mindset that I wanted to obtain as much knowledge as possible from my clinical rotations. Luckily, I had great support from my preceptors, such as Dr. Mary Bridgeman, who taught me neat tips and tricks to help remember certain concepts better. It was their passion for pharmacy that inspired me to learn more about clinical pharmacy outside of my rotations. 

I often find myself to be someone who ironically lives for, but is also utterly scared about competition. With this mindset, I strongly hesitated to compete; however, the support from the EMSOP Alumni Council to participate in the 2019 NJSHP College Bowl Competition took off a huge burden for me. Now, there was less pressure about the competition. The only pressure I had was more so my 2-hour commute to Atlantic City after only having had 3 hours of sleep the day before.

Nevertheless, I did not have many expectations about the competition; I went for fun. When it came down to hearing the first question in the competition, I felt my heart racing out of excitement. I was so excited at the sheer fact that my hard work during the fourth professional year was paying off. To be honest, one of the teams I was most intimated by was FDU. The competition against them was so nerve-wracking that it went down to the tiebreaker question. The funny thing is that this tiebreaker question was the one question my first cycle preceptor, Dr. Anita Siu, asked me during our pharmacotherapy rounds my first week of rotations. I did not know the answer back when she had asked me, but I remember looking up the answer and it has stuck with me ever since. I grinned feverishly when I answered that tiebreaker question. 

Overall, I am grateful to the EMSOP Alumni Council for providing me and my teammates an opportunity to showcase the education we have received through the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy." 

Gamsa Charis Oh, CCMA, CPhT

PharmD Candidate, Class of 2019

Please help by donating and spreading the word!