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(350) Two Maryland Initiatives for Career Exploration by Homeschoolers and Baltimore City Girls in STEM

    Primary Author(s)

  • Lisa Lebovitz, JD, MS

    Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Assessment
    University of Maryland
    Baltimore, Maryland, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Jill Morgan, PharmD

    Professor and Chair, Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research
    University of Maryland
    Baltimore, United States

Objective : To inspire pre-college students to consider careers in science, pharmacy practice, and allied health professions.

Methods: Baltimore area homeschool families endeavor to expose their children to different career options, and University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) alumni tapped their connections for an exciting day. Similarly, the after-school STEM club coordinator for Baltimore City’s all-girls Mother Mary Lange Catholic School (MMLCS) sought an opportunity for students to learn more about pharmacy and physician assistant professions.

Results: Alumni Tecoya Farrakhan, PharmD ’02, MBA, MS-Cannabis ’21, CHC, and her husband, Karriem Farrakhan, PharmD ’03, MBA, MS-Cannabis ’21, own a pharmacy staffing company, Primo Pharmacy Services, LLC, and a health and wellness transformation advisory and education company, Rootimentary Wellness, LLC. Nearly 20 homeschoolers, including the Farrakhan children, enjoyed a lab tour and discussion of lab scientist careers by the associate director of UMSOP’s Mass Spectrometry Center. A community pharmacist faculty then led students in compounding a lip scrub and an intravenous (IV) solution.

Cynthia Tilghman-Lee, DVM, the MMLCS after-school STEM program coordinator, sought a special field trip for career exploration. Middle schoolers from Baltimore city’s MMLCS, learned from several female UMB professionals about the education, training, and careers of a pharmacist, a physician assistant, and a simulationist. After presentations, students modeled the activities of health profession students by using stethoscopes to check the pulse, respirations, and blood pressure of the mannequins in the simulation rooms, and toured UMSOP’s community and hospital pharmacy practice labs. Students shared that they have limited exposure to these professions in school.

Conclusions: Pharmacy programs can promote science and healthcare careers to homeschoolers and students in private, religious, and charter schools.