We are third year pharmacy students at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy- Twin Cities campus enrolled in the leadership emphasis area (LEA). The Leadership Emphasis Area (LEA) is a 16-credit sequence consisting of leadership experiences and supervised independent study aimed at developing skills in leading change. 

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We decided to collaborate together on this project because we are both passionate about creating opportunities for health professional students to connect with one another. We were also interested in finding ways to help advance the scope of practice for pharmacists in Minnesota and reduce provider burnout. Our passion for advancing the practice of pharmacy originated from attending legislative day where we advocated for pharmacists.

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As students, we recognized it is difficult for us to develop relationships between professional students in different programs, especially while attending school virtually. Therefore, we developed a way for students to connect with one another in a low pressure, self driven, and SOCIAL manner!​

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The Problem 

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• Pharmacy and medical students are unable to easily develop social networks with one another that would allow them to develop interprofessional relationships early on in their academic careers. 

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Contributing factors

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• Lack of time for professional students who may not want to engage in extracurricular events that require a significant time commitment. 

• Physical separation on campus.

• Lack of courses that are taught interprofessionally.

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The Big Picture

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