St. John Fisher University - Wegmans School of Pharmacy

11/07/2025

Congratulations to P4s Laura Witt and Sam DeWitt for winning our local ASHP Clinical Skills Competition!!! 🙌🎈🏆💊🎉🍾

Earlier in October our school held our annual local Clinical Skills Competition. WSoP students in teams of 2 had to write a care plan for a patient case, then present their plan verbally to our esteemed panel of faculty judges.

This year's case dealt with a 57 year old male presenting to the ED with an acute episode of schizophrenia. He also had untreated gonorrhea, scabies, social anxiety disorder, and cardiovascular disease....among many other things. It was close, but once the scores were tallied up Laura and Sam took it home 🏆

They will now represent our school on Sat 12/6 at the national competition during the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in Las Vegas 🎰

Thank you to all the teams that participated, as well as to our panel of faculty judges. Good luck in Las Vegas Laura and Sam....you've already made us proud ☺️

08/12/2025

"The Life of a Pharmacy Student" drops on September 2nd when we welcome everyone back to campus for the fall semester!!

We can't wait to see everyone and meet our brand new P1s!! The next Era of pharmacy school is almost here!! 🙌💫🪩🐱🧡

08/04/2025

What a great time we had at Bills camp last week!!! 🏈🙌🦬☀️🍩

It was awesome getting to see all of our alumni and community partners at Bills camp last week. Our school had its yearly event on Monday, while Dr. Birnie met with members of the Spire society on Wednesday. These events represent small, fun ways to thank everyone for their involvement in our pharmacy school as well as ; your support means more than we could ever express!!

Now that we are into August, our sights are set firmly on the Fall '25 semester! We start back up in just over 4 weeks and cant wait to see our returning students, as well as welcome the class of 2029 to our school!!

We hope you all are having a great summer!! 🏝️🌞

05/01/2025

Our school has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the NACDS Foundation!!!!! 🙌💰🏫🎈🎆

Earlier this week at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, FL the awardees of their annual grants were announced. Every year NACDS awards over $200,000 in grants and scholarships to those who are innovating pharmacy practice or inspire interest and opportunities in pharmacy education.

Our school was honored to have been chosen as one of the recipients for our proposal entitled "Native American Youth Pharmacy Discovery Camp at the Seneca Nation of Indians (SNI)." Dr. Birnie was on hand to receive a really big check commemorating the moment!

Drs. Zak, Parkhill, Sapinoro, and Bremer collaborated with graduating P4 Taylor Steeprock and the Seneca Nation of Indians (SNI) in Irving, NY to create an exciting educational experience for students grades 6-12 to be administered on the reservation. We will then bring those students to our campus and give them a hands-on pharmacy experience within our school 💊

It's a goal of ours to educate about the profession we love to all high school students, especially those who might not have as many opportunities to be exposed to it. Thank you to Taylor Steeprock for connecting us to leadership within the nation to help develop this program. It will all go down this summer during the week of August 11.

Congratulations to all involved!! 🙌

04/23/2025

Our P1s survived our Hunger Games Hypertension Escape Room!!!! 🙌💊🐦🏹🩺♥️

This morning all of our P1s found themselves selected as tributes as they entered our Hunger Games Escape room in our sim lab! They teamed up in Districts as they had various puzzles to solve, including "The BP Battle," the "The Silent Killers," "The Risk Factor Reaping," and more! Only after each District provided the final code were they able to leave our Arena! (Don't worry, they all made it 😊)

Our faculty/staff facilitators found themselves getting into character to add to the realism! Old favorites Effie Trinket, Primrose Everdeen, and Seneca Crane were joined by new citizens of the Capital Vriagra Frupple, Tiger Snow, and Ticklebot Hornsby. Our Game Makers guided our students as they demonstrated their knowledge about the pathophysiology of hypertension and medications to treat it.

Though lectures are important, having fun while learning is important too 😀 Thanks to all involved for making it such a successful event!!

04/15/2025

Congratulations to our IPPE-I Preceptor of the Year Dr. Elizabeth Chatelle ('23)!!! 🙌💊🎈🎇🧁🏆

Last Thursday the OEE team traveled to Ridgemont Wegmans to surprise Class of 2023 alumna Dr. Elizabeth Chatelle with our IPPE-I Preceptor of the Year award! They were joined by members from the Wegmans Corporate team Colleen Gleason, Diane Lawatsch, Stacy Cairns ('14), and Deanna Cartenuto. Also joining us from the Ridgemont Wegmans team was WSoP alumna Danielle Pommerville ('13)!

Every year we ask our P2 students completing IPPE-I to nominate their preceptor if they feel they had a great rotation. There were no shortage of nominations this time around; Elizabeth's student spoke to her ability to serve as a mentor, as well as her ability to "explain complex concepts and offer constructive feedback that promoted growth." Her student concluded by saying how Elizabeth helped her "build confidence and competence as a future pharmacist."

Congratulations to Elizabeth on winning this award...especially since this was her first student she ever precepted! We're so proud of you and can't wait to see all the amazing things you're able to accomplish in your career 🙌

04/08/2025

We raised over $10,000 for 13Thirty Cancer Connect!!!!! 🙌💵🪮✂️🎈

We're still buzzing after last week's Bald for Bucks event! Neither thunder hail ⚡ nor downpouring rain 🌧️ were able to dampen the mood as the entire showed up and showed out at on Wed 4/2 to support 13thirty Cancer Connect , which enables adolescents and young adults with cancer to live their best lives TODAY.

According to the Bald for Bucks homepage, our WSoP/NCODA team ranks 7th of all groups in fundraising!! All the other groups are large schools pulling from hundreds of students...our group was 12!! 💪

Between the absolute legends who cut their hair and raised money, and the day of donations/raffles, we were ecstatic to have raised over $10,000 for 13Thirty. Lauren Striker, the executive director of 13Thirty and the mom of Melissa Sengbusch (for whom 13Thirty was created) even came out to thank us for our efforts....which was a very powerful moment for us all.

From WSoP NCODA chapter president Angelina Smith: "The sense of being part of something so impactful in our community is beyond words. Throughout the entire night, I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride and gratitude; not just for our school, but for the opportunity to be part of something bigger."

From Dr. Zak: "The support and resources we've received in Emily's name from students, faculty, staff, alumni, and preceptors has been positively overwhelming. I'm always proud to be a professor here at and the WSoP, but that night took it to another level and once again showed what makes our WSoP community truly special. Being able to spend time and share some words with Lauren was humbling and just the icing on the cake for the whole experience. I'll never forget it."

Congratulations to our NCODA group on organizing such an amazing event....and thank you to EVERYONE who contributed in ways large and small to make this year's Bald for Bucks one for the record books!!!

📸 courtesy of P3

03/21/2025

A message from Dr. Zak: Please support our WSoP Bald for Bucks team!!! ✂️🪒🪮💵❤️🙌

https://give.roswellpark.org/site/TR/BaldforBucks/General?team_id=21880&pg=team&fr_id=1980

Our student chapter of the National Community Oncology Dispensing Association (NCODA) is partnering with Bald for Bucks to raise money for , a local organization aimed to help adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer find each other, receive a number of valuable resources, and live their best lives.

Please join us at on Wed 4/2 from 5-7pm. Dr. Zak will be joining several other students and staff as they go Bald for Bucks in solidarity of this living through cancer treatments.

Please see the link in our profile to donate. No amount is too small; even a few dollars helps pay for a meal, or parking, or toys for patients and their siblings. Thank you for considering!!!

03/20/2025

It's I ❤️ Fisher Giving Day!!!!!!! 🙌❤️🏫🎉🎈

Today is our yearly I ❤️ Fisher Giving Day at . Days like today help us raise funds for our students and the campus to ensure that we keep giving the absolute best experiences to our students.

There are a number of funds school and campus wide one could donate to. Pharmacy specific funds include:

WSoP Annual Fund
Dr. Jack Brown Pharmacy Award
Dr. Scott Swigart Pharmacy Scholarship
Lucy Malmberg Hardship Fund
Medical Missions/Service Fund

Please click on the link in our bio to go to our website and choose which find you can donate to. No amount is too small and 100% will be reinvested into our students and campus.

Thank you all for your generosity!!! 🙏

Join me and make a gift to I ❤️ FISHER GIVING DAY

03/11/2025

Thank you to CEO Dr. Michael Hogue for coming to our campus yesterday!!! 💊✈️🙌

On Monday the CEO of the American Pharmacist Association Dr. Michael Hogue accepted an invitation from Dean Birnie to speak at her Dean's Hour. Dr. Hogue spoke to students in both the campus and online pathways about the importance of networking and being involved with professional organizations.

As the oldest and largest professional organization in our field, the APhA is well-positioned to advocate for the rights of pharmacists, technicians, and students with lawmakers in Washington, DC.

Dr. Hogue also spent time with our APhA-ASP chapter, our school's executive committee, as well as some of our preceptors. Thank you to Dr. Hogue for making the time to come to our campus and for all of APhA's advocacy efforts!!!

02/18/2025

We saw some of our students in Houston!!!! 🙌✈️💊

Drs. Birnie and Nagel were in Houston, TX over the weekend for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Interim Meeting. At the meeting they attended lectures on trauma-informed care, strategies on how to foster a supportive and inclusive campus environment, how emerging technology will aid in improved patient care and outcomes, and much more!

They also had a chance to catch up with several students in our online pathway from the region: P4 Nicolaus Anschulz, P2 Rushawn Middleton, and P1 Rema Barazi.

We love being able to see all of our in person as we travel around the country! We can't wait to see all of our students in the online pathway in early May for their next immersion 👍

02/03/2025

Happy Black History Month to our Fisher Family!!! 🙌🌍

February is Black History Month where we collectively celebrate the history, culture, and contributions of black people current and past, as well as acknowledge the barriers Black people have and continue to encounter.

Today we highlight Dr. James McCune Smith. Born into slavery and freed at the age of 14, Dr. Smith is not only credited with becoming the first Black American physician, he is credited with opening and owning the first Black-owned pharmacy in the United States in 1838 at 93 West Broadway in New York City.

He was an abolitionist who used his intelligence and stature to publish numerous essays refuting common misconceptions about race, medicine, and society. His pharmacy not only provided medical care to people of all races, but also served as a meeting place for abolitionists.

Frederick Douglass (who called Rochester home and is buried in Mt. Hope cemetery) called Dr. Smith "the single most important influence on his life." Dr. Smith passed away at the age of 52 on Nov. 17, 1865.....19 days before the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution abolishing slavery.

Keep an eye out for more facts and activities from the Diversity Committee, including a talk from our old friend and faculty member Dr. Sha-Phawn Williams on 2/26!