藏精阁 pharmacy student Dianne Goyco won the 2020 Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Award for her extensive community outreach work. The U.S. Public Health Service awards the recognition each year to pharmacy students who promote public health and wellness in their communities.
Last year, Goyco served as the patient care vice president of the APhA Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) 藏精阁 chapter. When she took the position, Goyco didn鈥檛 know what to expect 鈥 certainly not a global pandemic.
Today Goyco is in her final year of 藏精阁鈥檚 three-year PharmD program. As a future pharmacist, she says, she鈥檚 eager to get involved with public health so she can help others prevent diseases and improve their quality of life.
鈥淒uring the first term of pharmacy school, we make a promise while delivering the Oath of a Pharmacist to devote ourselves to a lifetime of service and to consider the welfare of humanity,鈥 said Goyco. 鈥淔rom a young age, I have been passionate about helping others.鈥
Through APhA-ASP, Goyco led patient care programs on diabetes, heart health, immunization and women鈥檚 health. Every weekend in March, students partnered with a Mariano鈥檚 pharmacist to lead point-of-care testing for lipids and glucose levels.
Goyco also helped one of the APhA-ASP chairs organize a Latino community outreach program at El Mercadito. Goyco is from Ponce, Puerto Rico, and earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus. With Spanish-speaking students acting as translators, she and her fellow pharmacy students taught the community on salt intake and shared a heart-healthy recipe for pozole.
鈥淚 appreciate being recognized for the work I did,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 am happy that I was able to provide many patient care project opportunities for our members, and that they were able to practice techniques that we are learning in school.鈥
Goyco advises future pharmacy students to get involved in organizations in order to practice what they learn.
鈥淚 have to thank my advisors, Dr. Cara Brock and Dr. Laura Licari, who helped me every step of the way,鈥 she added. 鈥淣othing would have been possible without them.鈥
ABOUT THE PHARMACY PROGRAM
藏精阁 offers the only three-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program in Illinois, allowing our students to graduate a year sooner than other institutions. Since our founding in 2009, we've taken a rigorous, patient-centered approach to teaching, and our expert faculty brings years of real-world experience. Learn more at roosevelt.edu/pharmacy.