As the new academic year begins, it is important to remind students how essential it is to get involved in extracurricular activities. Being a part of an organization, such as ICHP, is paramount to a student’s academic career, as it will help them become better pharmacists in the future. The Rosalind Franklin University (RFU) College of Pharmacy (COP) has more than 10 different pharmacy-centered organizations in addition to many opportunities to join university interprofessional organizations. The average class size at RFU COP is between 50-60 students in each of the four professional years. Busy pharmacy students may have limited abilities to participate in the plethora of activities each organization runs. However, our ICHP chapter at RFU has continued to grow due to our efforts to actively engage current and prospective members. Every year, the RFU ICHP chapter adds fun, unique, and helpful activities to engage our members. All the events held are tailored to the students to ensure they gain a better understanding of the opportunities the profession of pharmacy entails, especially in health-system pharmacy. 

Our chapter held our first general body meeting (GBM) of the 2019-2020 academic year during the first week of classes. This was very advantageous because we were able to generate a lot of interest from current and potential new members right from the start. Next, we held our annual membership drive where students could learn more about ICHP. The event was on campus and we were able to cater a student favorite, Chipotle. We prepared various pharmacy-related activities such as ICHP bingo and raffles (with enticing incentives) to make the event more active to encourage participation from attendees. We had an amazing turnout at the event and many students became ICHP members right on the spot!

We are currently planning upcoming events that have had great success in the past. These include clinical roundtables, residency roundtables, professional headshots, and CV workshops. We hold these events to help our members grow professionally. For the clinical roundtable, we are fortunate to have a variety of faculty members willing to participate who each have their own specialty, such as infectious disease, critical care, solid organ transplant, oncology, mental health, toxicology, and ambulatory care. The wide array of specialties attracts many members to attend and participate as they are trying to find their niche in the pharmacy world.

Future plans for the chapter include making our GBMs more interactive. We plan to integrate more pharmacy-related activities into our meetings to keep members engaged and interested throughout the year. We will continue to invite unique guests to speak to our members so that they can see all the different opportunities available after graduation. Lastly, we plan on increasing our presence on different social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram to keep members well informed about all our exciting and upcoming events.