Helping fourth year student pharmacists develop their professional brand

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Professional Development
• Digital Branding

Background:

• Professional branding is crucial for student pharmacists in a competitive job market.
• Developing a personal digital brand aids professional growth and networking.
• A pilot program addressed the need for personal branding education among pharmacy students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce fourth-year pharmacy students to personal digital branding principles.
• To educate students on leveraging social media for professional development and networking.
• To assist students in optimizing professional documents like CVs and resumes.

Main Methods:

• A two-part virtual workshop series was conducted.
• Subject matter experts and alumni were involved as stakeholders.
• Pre- and post-workshop surveys assessed student perceptions and confidence.

Main Results:

• Students showed moderate interest but low confidence in using social media professionally before the workshops.
• Post-workshop, students found the training beneficial and created action plans for social media and document revision.
• All participating students developed concrete plans for enhancing their professional online presence.

Conclusions:

• Student pharmacists are receptive to and would benefit from professional branding training.
• The pilot program demonstrated the value of digital branding education for pharmacy students.
• Findings provide a foundation for future, improved professional branding initiatives in pharmacy education.