Latest Projects: Health Mentors Teach Pharmacy Students about HIV

Earlier this month, Health Mentors, Darren, Al, and John were invited to share their patient journey with 3rd year pharmacy students in the Entry-to-Practice (E2P) PharmD program. It was the second year for the session which is a collaboration between Dr. Jane Xia, Assistant Professor of Teaching, and Patient & Community Partnership for Education (PCPE) with the goal to help students learn about the complexity of patients’ journeys from the manifestations of signs and symptoms of HIV to undergoing treatment. Each session was attended by approximately 75 students.

“It helped put things into perspective about what we learned in the lecture and hearing their real-life stories,” said one student.

Another said, “hearing right from the patient is the best way for us to understand the impacts we have on patients lives.”

“You can read about a lot of these experiences online, but hearing someone share their own experiences with you is completely different. It was extremely personal and felt like a privilege to be able to hear about the things this individual shared. PLEASE offer this tutorial again next year. One of the best this program has had to offer.” said another student.

The sessions were so highly rated by students that there is interest in identifying more opportunities for students to learn from patients in the E2P curriculum. Stay tuned!