Minority students explore pharmacy careers -

Minority students explore pharmacy careers - - ModernMedicine

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Key Points

A hospital, a pharmacy college, and a commercial organization in St. Louis are collaborating to introduce minority teens to pharmacy careers.
The BESt Summer Institute gives 35 high school students 4-6 week programs in pharmacy, algebra, trigonometry, and the Princeton Review (a preparatory program for college entrance exams).
Students earn stipends for completing the program.

Thirty-five students from high schools throughout the St. Louis area recently participated in a summer pharmacy program known as "BESt," created by Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Express Scripts Inc., and The St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

The government is predicting a continued shortage of pharmacists, despite the availability of six-figure salaries. The profession also lacks diversity. To tackle both these issues, the BESt Summer Pharmacy Institute was created to introduce minority students to the profession at an early age.

"We all recognize that we see a lack of pharmacists, period," said Steven Player, manager of the Barnes-Jewish pharmacy department. "That's compounded by the fact that pharmacists tend to work where they train. So our intention was to create a local pipeline."

Junior and senior high school students enroll in programs of four or six weeks to study pharmacy, algebra, trigonometry, and the Princeton Review, which prepares them for taking college entrance exams. They earn stipends if they complete the program. "You need to expose them early to the opportunities that pharmacy school offers," said Freddie Wills, director of diversity at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

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