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Platform educates students on College offerings, career opportunities
The University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy has launched a PharmD Exploration Center to help educate potential students on the College and on the many of career options available to pharmacists.
URI’s PharmD Exploration Center, a collaboration with CORE Higher Education Group, offers 17 digital learning activities via an accessible platform with content focused on URI alumni career experiences, pharmacy practice settings, pharmacist career paths, 360-degree virtual tours of pharmacies, and URI College of Pharmacy details.
“We are pleased to collaborate with CORE Higher Education Group on this exciting project that exposes students to the wide spectrum of opportunities offered by study toward a pharmacy degree,” Dean Paul Larrat said.
Part of the mission of the Exploration Center is to expose students to the career paths and diverse roles of College of Pharmacy graduates, helping prospective and current students envision a career in pharmacy through relatable success stories.
“Prospective pharmacy students typically have a very limited and narrow understanding of where a degree in pharmacy can take them,” said URI pharmacy grad Shannon Staton, senior director of pharmacy solutions for CORE. “By educating prospects with career-focused content on the, we anticipate not only an increased interest in pharmacy as a career option, but an increase in overall applications and acceptance rates for schools.”
The Exploration Center is based on CORE’s RECRUIT platform, which it launched in 2020. RECRUIT is a custom recruiting platform designed to help pharmacy programs engage, educate and excite potential student candidates. About 70 percent of pharmacy schools currently use technology within the CORE Technology Suite, and major pharmacy chains utilize the RECRUIT platform, offering myriad opportunities for pharmacy students, CORE representatives said.
The Exploration Center offers testimonials from URI College of Pharmacy alumni, detailing their careers, their time at URI and the opportunities a URI College of Pharmacy education affords them.
“Our alumni represent valuable resources to mentor, educate and connect with our students in many ways. This platform will be valuable for prospective students, but also support our current students, introducing them to additional career paths and professional relationships,” said URI Clinical Professor Erica Estus, chair of the College Admissions Committee.
Claire Burbridge, current P2 pharmacy student at URI, said the platform id beneficial to students concerned what their futures may hold. “The platform is very helpful for students who want to know what certain jobs entail or learn the various paths graduates can take with a pharmacy degree,” she said. “Being able to see the URI alumni and where they work is great to know that different jobs are possible upon graduation.”