A WSU pharmacy student has earned national recognition for her volunteer work with people with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease in Spokane.
Lindy Wood, who will graduate from the WSU College of Pharmacy in May, is one of a handful of pharmacy students from across the nation selected for a Wal-Mart/Pharmacy Times award for service in pharmacy, which includes a $1,000 scholarship and her profile published in the February 2009 issue of the national magazine Pharmacy Times.
While in school last year, Wood spent four to five hours per week working with the College of Pharmacy’s Geriatrics Team and volunteering for a movement disorder neurologist in Spokane, where she worked directly with people with Parkinson’s Disease and those with other movement disorders and various forms of dementia.
She has since become a volunteer for the nonprofit Parkinson’s Resource Center and for the Inland Northwest chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association – both based in Spokane – helping them to educate patients, their families and other healthcare practitioners.
In her last year of school now, Wood spends 40 hours each week in on-the-job education as required by the WSU pharmacy program, and then she devotes time to answering questions for the Alzheimer’s Association and she serves on the board of directors of the Parkinson’s Resource Center.
The three WSU pharmacy professors who nominated Wood for the award noted she was president of the pharmacy student honor society and is also active in the student chapters of several national pharmacy organizations. She also has volunteered at the Second Harvest food bank as well as on various committees at WSU. Wood’s hometown is Kent, Wash.
Known as the RESPy Award for Respect, Excellence and Service in Pharmacy, the Wal-Mart/Pharmacy Times award was first given out in May 2006 to a University of Louisiana student who worked at Wal-Mart and helped the victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The WSU professional pharmacy program is co-located at Pullman and Spokane. Students spend their first two years of study on the Pullman campus, their third year of study on the WSU Spokane campus, and during their fourth year they rotate through clerkships supervised by other professional pharmacists around the state of Washington.