The Ultimate Guide to Pharmacy School Organizations

Author: Rebecca Loftus, SIUE School of Pharmacy Class of 2026
Editor: Kristen Lindauer, PharmD, BCPS, AAHIVP

Introduction

It should be no surprise that pharmacy school is overwhelming. For most students starting their P1 year, this is the largest course load they have ever experienced. This is compounded by how difficult that content is. Fortunately, hundreds of students carry this burden every year as they advance through Pharmacy School.

Throughout the entire secondary education journey, students have the idea of “getting involved” drilled into them. You are constantly encouraged to boost your resume by volunteering, joining clubs and organizations, and even becoming a leader in them. However, no one definitively explains HOW to get involved. As a current P3 with multiple leadership positions, I hope to explain the best way to get involved in pharmacy school.

Division of Organizations

Most pharmacy schools have their own student chapters of the same national organizations. Although your school may call them by slightly different names, the core organization is the same. I will be referring to the organizations by their names at the SIUE School of Pharmacy, where I attend.

When deciding which of the dozens of organizations you want to get involved in, it is best to break them down by their target audiences. I have divided all the organizations in my school into three main categories: Generalized-Pharmacy, Career-Based, and Personal-Interests-Based. Generalized-Pharmacy references organizations that intend to represent all Pharmacists regardless of their specific career niches. Career-Based consists of organizations that provide resources for those to achieve their specific career goal within the pharmacy umbrella. Personal-Interests-Based organizations include those that are not intended necessarily to advance you to a particular career. They are there to improve yourself or provide an alternative, not directly career-based benefit.

Generalized-Pharmacy Organizations:

• American Pharmacists Association-Association of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP): APhA-ASP represents all of Pharmacy as a whole. It has “patient care projects” which consist of committees in certain categories such as Reproductive Health, Diabetes, Heart Health, Substance Use, etc. This organization is so broad that it is easy to join in.
• Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA): SNPhA represents those dedicated to serving underserved populations. It is also a broad organization that has different “initiatives” in categories such as HIV/AIDS, mental health, and chronic kidney disease.

Career-Based Organizations:

• Student Society of Health Systems Pharmacy (SSHP): This consists of students who are interested in working in the health system. This typically means hospital pharmacy, long term care, or even ambulatory care. If you are interested in pursuing residency, this is the organization for you!
• Industry Pharmacists Association (IPhO): This organization is for those interested in pursuing Industry Pharmacy. This often includes medical science liaisons, drug research, and drug development. Industry is still considered an unconventional pathway in most pharmacy schools, so this organization helps students interested with networking and finding internships. If you are interested in pursuing a fellowship, this is the organization for you!
• National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA): This is for those interested in working in community pharmacies and ambulatory care spaces. It also provides resources for those hoping to pursue pharmacy management!
• Pediatric Pharmacy Association (PPA): As the name implies, this is for those hoping to pursue pediatric pharmacy! A common saying within the pediatric world is that kids are NOT just small adults. This is because they have entirely different proportions that affect pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. This organization highlights those differences and provides resources for students interested in pediatrics.
• American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP): This is for those interested in working with various psychiatric specialties. This includes mental health care, substance use/withdrawal, and emergency psychiatric treatment.

Personal-Interests-Based Organizations:

• Professional Fraternity/Sorority: There are several different chapters of these professional fraternities or sororities. However, most schools have one or two active on their campus. These are for those who are interested in brotherhood/sisterhood and philanthropy. Some examples include Kappa Psi, Phi Delta Chi, and Lambda Kappa Sigma.
• Honor/Leadership Societies: I would imagine that these vary widely between schools, however, at SIUE SOP, these are not organizations that you apply to. These are organizations that you are nominated for or qualify for based on academic performance or leadership accomplishments.
• Affinity Groups: SIUE SOP has multiple ethnicity and sexuality centered affinity groups that allow students to come together in a safe environment to celebrate their backgrounds.
• Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International (CPFI): The purpose of this organization is to allow students who are Christian to come together for prayer, Bible study, and support.
• Hospice Volunteer Initiative (HVI): The goal of this organization is to help students understand the complexities of hospice care and to provide volunteer opportunities to serve those on hospice in our community.
• Student Government: At SIUE, the School of Pharmacy is a miniscule part of the SIUE campus. Our campus hosts over 10,000 students who are pursuing a wide range of undergraduate or graduate degrees. The SIUE student government consists of representatives from all the major schools within the campus, including pharmacy. The Pharmacy Senator attends the student government meetings to represent SOP and advocate for the school’s needs.

My Journey

I have noticed two main pathways that students often fall into when thinking about getting involved. Some students are overwhelmed by the process and are more reserved. They typically don’t join anything P1 year and re-evaluate P2 year. The other path is students that join every single organization that is advertised to them. They get excited about immersing themselves fully into pharmacy school and put way too much on their plate right off the bat. When I first began as a P1, I knew that I needed to get involved in extra-curricular activities. Back in undergrad and high school, those are what brought me the most joy. Unfortunately, that means I picked the pathway of over-joining. I immediately joined every single organization that was available to me, which I do not recommend. I quickly became overwhelmed and had to back out of a few at the start of my P2 year.

To avoid following in my footsteps (or to avoid not joining anything at all), I have created a roadmap of sorts to guide you to getting involved most efficiently. In short, I recommend joining one organization from each of the categories. If three organizations seem overwhelming, I recommend prioritizing career-based organizations because they will offer invaluable resources to pursue your desired career.

When choosing my general organization category, I joined APhA-ASP simply because it was advertised to me first. It seemed like an easy organization to join and allowed me to become more involved with time in the committees. In my P2 year, I joined the Reproductive Health Committee and later became chair of that committee in my P3 year.

For my career interest, I knew that I wanted to pursue Pediatric Hospital Pharmacy even at the beginning of pharmacy school. Based on that knowledge, I quickly became a member of SSHP and PPA for my career-based organization(s). Even then, I knew I had an interest in leadership, so I ran for the P1 Liaison position of SSHP. Ever since, I have slowly worked my way up to being the current President of SSHP. Leadership is not required, but there are many opportunities if that is something valuable to you.

To fulfill my personal interests category, I decided to run for the Pharmacy Senator position in Student Government. Although I do not particularly have an interest in government proceedings, I valued the idea of working with students of different backgrounds. Seeing only pharmacy personnel every single day was really draining for me, so I wanted to find something that allowed me to step away every so often while also benefiting my classmates.

Obviously, there is no “correct way” to get involved. For some, attending classes is all they can handle. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, for those who are able to get involved, this is the way I recommend. As someone who started doing it the wrong way and has slowly figured it out over time, I believe that this is the most effective and efficient way.

Contact Info

Feel free to reach out to me with any comments or questions about getting involved or my experiences in pharmacy school at rloftus@siue.edu!