Completed Spring 2022 via Pharmacy Law and Pharmacy Professionalism classes. Assessed via projects, examinations, and other assignments.

Completed Spring 2022

Dinner and conversation with many pharmacists in various fields to broaden professional network and exchange contact information for internship opportunities.

Attended the in-person speaker series where Dr. Wrobel - a medicare formulary pharmacist - spoke us through a process of schooling, residency, and managed care in an encouraging way that inspires me to consider experiental learning in managed care and similar sectors of pharmacy.

Specialty Pharmacy was another sector that caught my attention during pharmacy school orientation since it establishes a necessity for a small portion of our population that can be assisted through more specific drugs that will not be broadly offered in community pharmacies due to their limited patient need. Delivering specialty drugs to patients with less-common conditions serves an opportunity to serve the people who would otherwise be left without care in the absence of this sector of pharmacy. 

My current position as the P1 liaison has allowed me to learn the interworkings of a student organization and how we have the ability to mimic national organizations and create a similar environment within our school, ultimately expanding knowledge and understanding of specialty pharmacists. 

Joining this organization was my effort to expand my horizons in pharmacy and experience different fields of practice that I may want to ensue. Applying business into pharmacy and finding correlations between the two has been a huge interest of mine since enrollment in pharmacy school and I still plan to continue to learn how managed care pharmacy delivers a unique, indispensable form of patient care

I am a current member of the student division of PSSNY and PAWNY, professional organizations that work directly in NY - or even more specifically WNY for PAWNY - in order to act as a collective unit for addressing pharmacy practice in NY. 

Why does this matter? I have the ability to form strong connections with individuals very well established in their careers and in the geographic area where I want to practice - all before I graduate! Forming more valuable relationships will also make life at work much more enjoyable while still delivering high quality patient care.

As a pharmacy student, I was in the minority during this professional meeting. I got to experience how established pharamcists can hold positions in committees and organizations that cooperate with active pharmacists in many different fields of pharmacy in order to establish goals and objectives of pharmacists in the state of NY. I want to work in NY when I graduate so knowing that there is an organization that works to incorporate the ideals of all as many pharmacists as possible in the area is reassuring that while I work to take care of my community, there are people working to make sure I'm taken care of as well - and I can take part!

In essence, I learned that my involement in this and other related organizations can directly impact the practice of pharmacy in the geographic area in which I want to practice.

Career Day was yet another indication of how important communication is for self-promotion and establishment within a company in pharmacy. Building relationships makes transitioning from different positions or upwards within a company much smoother and contributes to a foundation in my pocket of people that are willing to attest to my work capabilities due to first-hand experience.

PLAID Day was an excellent opportunity to hear how pharmacy and the government interact since the profession is not solely governed by other pharmacists and external (governmental) agencies and opinions highly impact the progression of pharmacy as a profession. I took away from this experience the importance of communication and community engagement because pharmacy as a profession expands beyond my fellow students and encompasses all current pharmacists and their administrative counterparts that work with or against them as they advocate for their profession.

This co-curricular activity gave me some insight on addiction and how ANY patient/person is susceptible to addiction, regardless of their backgrounds or intentions. Hearing the story of the speaker's son Michael and how his addiction led to his ultimate suicide brought reality to conceptuality that we experience daily in pharmacy school. These concepts are real and are critical to our understanding and implementation of patient centered care.

While not employment related to pharmacy, this experience taught me how to climb up and truly understand the values of every individual on a team. I started as a dishwasher and worked my way up to a cashier, then a line associate, and quickly earned a leadership position where I could demonstrate my learned knowledge and build an inclusive team by understanding the responsibilities of each role. I learned effective communication and how to optimize productivity within my team and myself. 

This experience is also a major contributory factor to my aspiration for exhibiting leadership characteristics and confidently accepting leadership positions in the work environment.

I currently hold a position at a Rite Aid in Cheektowaga, NY as a part/full time pharmacy technician where I get to practice community pharmacy as an unlicensed personnel and get to observe the responsibilities of the pharmacist on duty in preparation for internships to come.

Completed Spring 2022 via lectures and assessments in Pharmacy Law class.

I, Dan Kurowski, am a pharmacy student with an open mindset who's willing to explore multiple fields of pharmacy and integrate conceptual knowledge into practice. I currently have an interest in practicing in a hospital setting, in a specialty pharmacy, or in an industrial field within the Western New York area. I want to contribute to expansion of pharmacy within and near where I was born: Buffalo, New York. I look forward to applying knowledge learned in the classroom to produce optimal, patient-specific care. I aspire to learn and profess preventative healthcare to enhance the quality of life of my own and my patients' families

I feel my dependability and determination for quality are best expressed when I work side-by-side with my colleagues.

I look forward to what is to come!