Hayley N. Cliatt
President, UCSD CPNP Student Chapter
The first CPNP joint conference between the UCSF, USC, UCSD, and KGI chapters in California was held on the crisp morning of January 4th, 2019 at the USC campus in Los Angeles. It started as a passing idea between Danquynh Bui and Derek Yang, good friends and the presidents of the USC and UCSD CPNP chapters at the time. Danquynh had imagined a conference between all the California schools of pharmacy that would host a variety of speakers from patients to motivational speakers to psychiatric healthcare providers. Her vision to exemplify the perspectives of many inspired the title “Through Our Lens”. With the conference’s mission established and the UCSF and KGI chapters on board, what started as a small dream for Danquynh would soon become so much more for all the students involved.
The conference featured several speakers who helped build awareness for mental health by sharing their personal stories. Opening the conference was motivational speaker Trent Podskalan. Throughout his journey in coming to terms with his mental illness, Trent could not help but feel ingenuine, as if he were constantly “wearing a mask” to hide his struggles. At the end of his speech, in a clever call-back to the mask metaphor, Trent asked each of the students to think about the types of “masks” they wear. Elements of the participants’ masks were discussed aloud, emphasizing the stark differences between how we present ourselves and our true selves. Trent ended his talk with this final proclamation: only after he accepted himself and started speaking to others about his mental illness, was he freed from his struggles. Following Trent was a presentation by several NAMI representatives as well as the first-hand accounts of inspirational speakers Freddie Almazan and Caroline Nguyen.
Between the powerful messages of the speakers, each of the four CPNP chapters also hosted their own mindfulness activities for the students to reflect on their well-being and also to meet CPNP colleagues from different chapters. This included a guided meditation, turning negative statements into positive ones, and a gratefulness activity to name a few. To further ties between the chapters, each of the four schools also posed discussion questions for the students to work through together. Questions ranged from how to address the mental health crisis that is occurring among students to the moral and ethical responsibilities of a pharmacist to understanding forgiveness in the healing process.
In the latter half of the conference, a healthcare panel of various psychiatric providers helped expose the students to the multifaceted psychiatric healthcare team. Among those invited were Dr. Susie Park, psychiatric pharmacist, Dr. Kelly Jones, psychiatrist, and Dr. Erin Mcintyre, occupational therapist. Each of the providers shared their unique journeys into psychiatric care and gave students an inspirational glimpse into what their future careers may look like. The providers also spoke honestly with the students about both the days they love working in psychiatry as well as the times that challenged them as a provider.
As the conference came to a close, it was clear that Danquynh and the other CPNP chapter presidents had achieved much more than they had set out for: a major service to the pharmacy academic community. Every student who attended undoubtedly took something meaningful away from the conference. Whether it be a breathing exercise to use in times of stress, a personal story that really hit home, finding a new role model among the healthcare providers, or even a new friendship. But most importantly, this joint conference fostered a sense of community between the schools and reminded all those who attended of the importance of empathy. As future pharmacists, we will play a critical role in protecting and providing for our patients, especially those who need help but struggle to ask for it. To do so, it is important to be able to see the world not only from our limited perspective but also from the multifactorial perspectives of others. Through this conference, students were reminded that the best way to provide care—and to navigate the world—is with empathy: seeing through the lens of others.
