Oregon State University College of Pharmacy

Outstanding Professional Development Award Winner (2021 – 2022) 

Project Description

Emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine brought about an urgent need for pharmacy students to be at the frontlines, immunizing healthcare workers in staggering numbers during the pandemic. The OSU College of Pharmacy (CoP) students, in partnership with other disciplines within Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), worked together to immunize OHSU’s healthcare force all within the span of 2 months. The very first clinic in Oregon took place on December 16th, 2020 and 16 students and 8 preceptors came trained and prepared to vaccinate healthcare workers who had been in closest contact with COVID-19 patients since the pandemic began. Students spent their week and weekends during winter break working 4-8 hour shifts, immunizing and educating patients about the much awaited Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Pharmacy students at Oregon State University immunized 2,422 hospital employees over the course of 9 vaccination clinics. The vaccine clinics remained open until the vaccine supplies were exhausted. In total, 65 students volunteered and roughly 72 hours of volunteer service was organized by the CoP during this time. Through their hard work and dedication to their profession, pharmacy students and pharmacists alike were able to serve their communities during this challenging time.

Describe how your chapter planned the event?

OSU’s ASHP President Elect worked closely with OSU’s Preceptor Coordinator to recruit preceptors and students for each planned COVID-19 Clinic.  In order to plan for a successful clinic, student leaders would recruit students at least two weeks in advance and send volunteers informational guidance on how to properly immunize and educate patients on the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.  Additionally, it was important to verify that all students participating have received proper immunizations, completed COVID-19 vaccine education, and have all required licensure and certifications.

We also used the ASHP COVID-19 Resource Center for updates on vaccines, educational purposes, and news concerning the topic.

How did your SSHP Chapter promote the project?

Recruitment of students and preceptors were mostly done virtually, through email and social media. We utilized class list serves, google forms, and class cohort Facebook pages to recruit students for the event. To recruit preceptors, we reached out to faculty within our school as well as alumni through email.

When was the event held?

December 2020 – January 2021

Which ASHP Strategic Plan priority or goal did the project support?

Improve the Health and Well-Being of Patients by Optimizing Medication Therapy Outcomes Across the Continuum of Care

Improve Health Outcomes Across Populations Through Public Health and Emergency Preparedness Efforts

SSHP Leadership

• Evita Santos, President
• Cassilyn Streblow, President-Elect
• Myrna Munar, Faculty Advisor