FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2004

IS PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL TAKING HIS MEDICINE?
GROUNDHOG JOB SHADOW DAY ATTRACTS FUTURE PHARMACISTS

On February 6, the UCSF Fresno Pharmacy Education Program and students from the Doctor’s Academy at Sunnyside High School will team together for the seventh annual National Groundhog Job Shadow Day. The event focuses on attracting area students to the pharmacy profession.

More than one million students annually participate in this national initiative, which has proven to be an effective way to motivate students by showing them how knowledge is applied in the workplace.

“Job shadowing is an integral part of UCSF Fresno’s outreach efforts in the Central Valley,” said Mitra Assemi, PharmD, director of the UCSF Fresno Pharmacy Education Program. “Students will observe first-hand how pharmacists apply their clinical knowledge and skills to promote rationale and safe medication use for patients.”

This year, 23 Valley students will shadow pharmacists at the California Poison Control Center, the Charlie Mitchell Clinic at Children’s Hospital Central California, Kaiser Medical Center, Target Pharmacies and University Medical Center. The diversity of settings, which includes intensive care units, hospital wards, patient clinics, community pharmacies and a poison center, will expose the students to a variety of career options for pharmacists.

After a day of shadowing a pharmacist, students have an opportunity to discuss their experiences with one another. “It’s exciting to talk to students after they realize the diversity of career choices within the pharmacy profession,” said Assemi.

For more information about National Groundhog Job Shadow Day, or the UCSF Fresno Pharmacy Education Program, contact Cara Peracchi Douglas at 559.288.3257, or Mitra Assemi at 559.241.7660.

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