PharmD Graduate Spotlight: Jude Enwereji
In preparation for the College of Pharmacy’s 2021 Convocation, we’re highlighting a few of our many extraordinary graduates.
One of those outstanding students, Jude Endwereji, shared with us some advice and memories that he collected during his time at the College of Pharmacy.
Name: Jude Enwereji
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
Program: PharmD
Q: What inspired you to pursue your PharmD?
A: Curiosity to understand how medications work in the human body is what inspired me to pursue PharmD. I have also worked with people with developmental disabilities in managing the medication inventory, and I wanted to get more education and training to help in a professional fashion.
Q: What have you accomplished during your studies that you are proud of?
A: First, with the help of wonderful faculty at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, I have in my toolbox tools necessary to practice as a healthcare professional. Pharmacy school comes with a lot of challenges: allocating time to studies, family, social activity, and job to pay your bills. To be successful, you must manage your time. I am proud of my time management abilities as well as multitasking which is important in practice as a pharmacist. I am also proud to work in an organization that has contributed in lowering Medicare and Medicaid cost and improved patient outcomes. This is possible through the application of what I learned as a student pharmacist. My quality improvement with one of the faculty was published in the Journal of Psychiatrist’s journal and pubmed. I am very proud of this because our colleagues from other schools may not have that same opportunity. I recommend all students strive to have their work published because it adds flavor to a students’ resume. I am happy to complete my senior project that sheds light on improvement needed in retail pharmacies and I hope to continue in such studies perhaps with students as a preceptor.
Q: What are your other plans for after graduation?
A: Working in an environment that enables me to put patients on the path to a healthy life and ensure that patients are consistently on that good health track. That means working with physicians to optimize therapy and ensuring patient adherence. My rotation experience has exposed me to many areas of pharmacy and encouraged me to think outside the box in areas that need improvement and pharmacy services that have not been fully explored such as; outpatient services, working in the physician office to help manage chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
Q: What is your favorite memory from school?
A: Challenges in pharmacy school are things that quickly come to mind, but there are memorable events as well. I looked at my first SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, and plan) note in pharmacy school and I could not have imagined how the faculty, my classmates and my entire PharmCat Phamily helped to improve and widen my pharmaceutical patient care and documentation. Awesome professors! I enjoy patient interviewing, medication reconciliation, recommendations and health fairs. Another memorable day was the day I took my last exam which happened to be Kinetics. I slept like a baby that night; it seems like a heavy stone that has been on my head for more than 3 years was taken away.
Q: Do you have any words of advice for students who may be thinking about pursuing their PharmD?
A: Come to pharmacy school because you have passion for a pharmacy career, and not because you were not able to get a place in medical school or dental school. It is very easy to think that 4 years is a long time and sometimes people procrastinate. I will suggest hitting the ground running on the first day of pharmacy school with goals and objectives: thinking about leadership position, project, publications. It is fine if your goals or objectives change along the way, but one can be in a bad shape when you do not have a plan at all. Look for a mentor that will guide you on your area of interest. Expand your net during rotation to other areas; this will give you flavor of other areas and guide your choice. Make time to rest, you need it to function optimally.
Story by: Gracie Lordi