by Ryan Bower, Assistant Director of Public Relations
Students from the Cedarville University school of pharmacy will be recognized by the American Association of Schools of Pharmacy (AACP) for their community service at its annual meeting on July 14 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Cedarville University is one of just four schools nationwide to be named as a recipient of the 2014-15 Student Community Engaged Service Award.
Since the fall of 2012, students from the school of pharmacy have worked with the Students Teaching Educational Plans for Success (STEPS) initiative, which serves the homeless population in and around Dayton.
“The students are extremely passionate about serving the underserved population,” said Ginger Cameron, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacy and the group’s faculty adviser. “It’s such a powerful experience for our students that once they go for the first time, they want to go back again.
The STEPS program works with residents at the St. Vincent de Paul Gettysburg Gateway for Men and Gateway Shelter for Women and Families by providing preventative health services and connecting participants with resources to advance their health goals.
“Our students have been extremely well organized in working with STEPS,” said Cameron. “The awards committee was impressed not only with how well everything was organized, but also how the students incorporated many different areas of discipline into the program.”
The program, which is part of a dual-initiative with students from Wright State University, features a broad spectrum of students from across multiple healthcare-related disciplines including; medical, pharmacy, psychology and physician’s assistant.
Participants in the program are able to talk to the students about their healthcare concerns and needs, and the students are able to help the participants form goals and provide them information to get the resources needed to achieve those goals. Students also provide free blood pressure, body mass index and glucose screenings.
The primary goal of STEPS is to take information from many, often fragmented, areas of healthcare and provide a one-stop information shop for participants. This goal is achieved by taking students from Cedarville’s pharmacy program as well as WSU’s nursing and medicine programs to provide a well-rounded support base for participants.
Joining Cedarville as winners of the Student Community Engaged Service Award are Chicago State University, Creighton University and Union University.
The award was first presented in 2009 and past winners include notable institutions such as; University of Arkansas, University of Colorado, University of Kentucky, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, University of North Carolina, University of Oklahoma, Purdue University and University of Washington.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 3,620 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 100 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and leading student satisfaction ratings.