Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy is proud to announce the startup of the ASPIR2E programs.
ASPIR2E stands for Aggie Student Pharmacists Initiative for Recruitment|Retention and Education and the purpose of the programs is to prepare and support students to become Aggie Pharmacists.
“Becoming a pharmacist is a time-consuming process and can be expensive. When underrepresented minority pharmacy students don’t succeed, and when their efforts are not realized, that can have a negative impact on underrepresented minority patients because it affects racial/ethnic concordance. Basically, racial/ethnic concordance says when healthcare providers look like the patients they serve, patients are more satisfied and experience better outcomes, and access to care is improved. So, one of the main goals of ASPIR2E is to help retain underrepresented minority students by helping them be successful,” Elaine Demps, PhD, Director of Instructional Design and Support Services, said.
The ASPIR2E programs consist of four tracks. Track 1 is the Pre Pharmacy Introductory Program and is for freshmen or first-time students, and Track 2 is the Pre-Pharmacy Advanced Program is designated for the Spring Semester of Sophomore year. These first two tracks will help undergraduate pre-pharmacy students ultimately become a competitive pharmacy school applicant and deepen their knowledge of what pharmacists can do.
After being accepted into the Rangel College of Pharmacy students will begin Track 3, the Pre-Matriculation Program which helps first-year PharmD students successfully transition and adjust to life as a professional student pharmacist. Track 4, the Academic Coaching Program, will help admitted students successfully become a competent practicing pharmacist.
“There were many beneficial aspects of the ASPIR2E program, but personally I found that building peer professional relationships has helped me the most in adjusting to the program,” Taylor Cummings, a first-year professional pharmacy student, said.
The idea of the ASPIR2E programs originated in 2016 and officially began June 1, 2018. The programs are funded through a grant, the Minority Health Research & Education Grant Program which was awarded to the college by the Higher Education Coordinating Board. Amanda Galindo, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, recalls how she and Demps reacted after receiving the news about the grant money and the approval of the programs.
“We screamed, we were very excited. It’s a great opportunity to have an award from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and all the individuals involved in submitting the application were just so thrilled. To have additional funding to support recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities to the Texas A&M University Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy helps to meet our mission as a College and to prepare a diverse student body for the practice of pharmacy,” Galindo said.
Since the program is fairly new surveys were given out to the students and the ASPIR2E programs proved to be successful and helpful as various positive feedback was received.
“As a student getting ready to begin pharmacy school, I felt anxious of the class workload and a profound sense of loneliness of not knowing anyone. Thankfully, the ASPIR2E program alleviated my concerns by cultivating a close-knit group of fellow peers that could collaborate and learn together,” Arnoldo Gonzalez, a first-year professional pharmacy student, said.
For more information regarding the ASPIR2E programs visit https://pharmacy.tamhsc.edu/ASPIR2E/index.html
