Alumni Involvement in International Outreach

One of the greatest keys to University success and institutional advancement is alumni involvement. As a fairly new program, the University of New England's College of Pharmacy is in its infant stages of alumni relations due to the small number of alumni and few years of practice under their belts. This year our Thailand clinical outreach excursion was lead in part by one of our very own; Dr. John Balk from the UNE COP Class of 2013. John currently practices as an ICU Clinical Pharmacist at Houston Methodist hospital in Houston, Texas. As a student, John was one of the first students to travel to Thailand on behalf of the University of New England. With his experience from traveling to Thailand multiple times along with his extensive clinical knowledge, "Jono" was able to enhance our ability to understand the differences between the United States and Thai healthcare systems while challenging our critical clinical thinking in a way that was useful in both countries. For many of us on this trip, Jono is the first alumni we have worked closely with outside of the College of Pharmacy. His knowledge, clinical conduct and dedication to the program he obtained his Pharm. D. from is inspiring and sparks excitement for our careers after graduation. At the beginning of this trip I never imagined I would meet a complete stranger half way around the world who would shake my understanding of pharmaceutical practice and life beyond school in such a positive way in just 2 weeks. Unfortunately Jono had to head back to the states this past Saturday to get back to work in Houston, and to our surprise his departure brought tears to most of the students. Very rarely do we get the chances in life to find a new and unexpected roll model, for this experience in Thailand I am extremely grateful and look forward to my future as an alumni. With more dedication and involvement from alumni like Jono, I think the UNE College of Pharmacy can take its next step to
establishing itself as a true leader in pharmaceutical education.

-Justin R.