Advising & Co-Curricular Engagement
We believe that building authentic relationships with faculty mentors and professional advisors are critical components to a student pharmacist’s development.
The WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPPS) professional advising and faculty mentorship support model is designed to ensure each student pharmacist successfully progresses through the curriculum and receives appropriate support, advising and mentoring. Faculty still serve as mentors and resources for students on an informal basis.
Who is my advisor and how can I set appointments with them?
| Spokane PY1-3 Students Last Names A-J Megan DiFilippo  Book an appointment with Megan! |
Spokane PY1-3 Students Last Names K-Z Christina Martin  Book an appointment with Christina! |
| Yakima All PY1-3 Students Monica Graham  Book an appointment with Monica! |
PY4 Students All Experiential Services Advising Saya Bobick  Book an appointment with Saya! |
Please access the booking pages for your advisor’s up to date availability. Instructions on how to use bookings can be found in the “How to Set and Reschedule an Appointment with your Advisor” section, below.
Drop In Availability for Academic and Student Success Advisors
Christina is available each day from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM for virtual or in-person drop-in advising! Drop-in appointments are meant to address quick concerns. We keep drop in appointments to 15 minutes in length because of this. If you know you’ll need more than 15 minutes to speak with your advisor, please plan to set an appointment on bookings.
For in-person drop-ins,
- Spokane students can stop by the PBS 120 Lounge in the Dean’s Suite.
For virtual drop-ins, you can drop in via our virtual zoom room. When you enter, you’ll be placed into a waiting room, then moved to a break out room where you will meet 1-1 with an advisor.
Getting the Most Out of Advising
Doctor of Pharmacy students have the benefit of having their own academic and student success advisor to answer questions, help solve problems and generally support students while they navigate their academic life at WSU. Advisors help students navigate their Cougar pharmacy experience, including but not limited to:
- Registering for courses
- Understanding policies and procedures
- Exploring scholarship and financial aid information
- Finding support in all forms across the university
- Learning about co-curricular opportunities and expectations
- Practicing interview skills
- Examining career options
- Completing job applications
- Anything to help and support you as a student pharmacist!
Students are encouraged to meet with their academic and student success advisor as often as they’d like; drop-ins are available as well as appointments. PY1-4 student appointments can be scheduled via Microsoft Bookings – more information coming soon.
How to Set and Reschedule an Appointment with your Advisor
- You can access your advisor’s scheduling system on the advising webpage or in the Academic Advisement section of myWSU. Once you are in the scheduling system, select the type of appointment you would like to schedule.
- A small calendar will appear. Select a date, and available meeting times associated with the selected date will appear. Choose the date and time that works best for you.
- Once you’ve selected a date a time, you will be required to complete several questions regarding your appointment.
If you forget to complete a question, you’ll receive an error message when you try to book the meeting.
- Finally, select “Book” at the bottom of the screen.
- A confirmation screen will appear. From this screen, you will be able to change your appointment if you would like. If you have scheduled a virtual appointment, the zoom information for the appointment will be shown on this screen.
- You will receive two confirmation emails: one immediately after you schedule your appointment, and one 24 hours before your appointment. The confirmation email you receive immediately after you schedule your appointment will look similar to what you see below. PLEASE NOTE that you will never need to select the “Join your appointment” button. You will always use the zoom link provided if you have scheduled a virtual appointment.
- Save the confirmation emails you receive! If you need to reschedule or cancel your appointment, you will be able to do so by scrolling to the bottom of the confirmation email and selecting the Change your appointment hyperlink
- You’ll then be taken back to the confirmation screen so you can reschedule or cancel your appointment.
PY1-3 Required Advising
PY1-PY3 students are required to meet with their academic and student success advisor each spring to discuss how they are doing in the program, review their Academic Progress Report, go over their Continuous Professional Development (CPD) plan and co-curricular activities, and discuss further opportunities to help them grow as professional student pharmacists.
How do I need to prepare?
Prior to spring advising you will maintain and complete your CPD plan, which includes your co-curricular activities, required reflections and assessments, and an updated CV.
Please come prepared to discuss your CPD and co-curricular activities, as well as your Academic Progress Report (found in your myWSU), elective completion, and any other questions you have/ topics you would like to discuss
Where can I find requirements and guidelines for the CPD and co-curricular activities?
You can find CPD and co-curricular requirements according to your year, along with descriptions of the co-curricular areas and example activities, under Co-curricular Areas, Expectations & Examples below.
I’m confused on some of the requirements and am unsure of a certain activity can count – what should I do?
If you have any questions after reading through the this webpage and its materials, reach out to your advisor!
When and how do I schedule my spring advising appointment?
You will be able to schedule your spring advising appointment near the start of the spring semester and will need to complete your CPD/co-curricular requirements in CORE CompMS one week prior to your scheduled appointment. You will schedule your spring advising appointment on Microsoft Bookings with your academic and student success advisor. It is recommended that you secure a date early, even if not finished with your CPD and co-curricular requirements, so that you have a timeline in which to complete them by. Please keep in mind that you may be asked to make corrections on some of your CPD items and/or co-curricular activities.
All CPD and co-curricular requirements must be completed in CORE CompMS one week before your appointment. If all of the materials have not been submitted within this time frame, the appointment will be cancelled and you will need to reschedule the appointment when all work is complete.
What if I don’t have my CPD, co-curricular activities, and spring advising appointment completed by the deadline?
Students who fail to complete their CPD/co-curricular activities and satisfy the spring advising requirement will not have the advising milestone cleared from their record, which can delay course registration.
Rescheduling/No Show/Cancellation Policy for PY1-3 Required Advising
We understand that unexpected academic obligations, work commitments, personal circumstances, or illnesses can affect your schedule. However, please communicate to your Academic and Student Success Advisor of any circumstances that will affect your scheduled appointment and make necessary changes in Microsoft Bookings as early as possible. We have high demand for appointments and need to see everyone prior to registration, so your cancellation will allow us to offer your time slot to another student if cancelled early enough. Be sure to check your schedule carefully, consider your obligations, and ability to have everything completed one week prior to your appointment in order to avoid multiple appointment cancellations/no-shows. The following details our cancellation/no show policy:
- Please note that if you are more than 15 minutes late, your appointment will be marked as a ‘No-Show’ and you will need to reschedule.
- If you are feeling ill or exhibiting any symptoms of illness, please reschedule your in-person appointment for another date or switch your in-person appointment to a virtual appointment. You can do this on your advisor’s Microsoft Bookings page, and through the confirmation email you receive from Microsoft Bookings 24 hours before your appointment.
- If you arrive to your appointment and are ill or are exhibiting symptoms of illness, you may be asked to complete the appointment virtually or to reschedule your in-person appointment for a date when you are feeling better.
- Two total no-shows and cancellations will result in the inability to schedule an advising appointment. Furthermore, it is up to the discretion of the advisor to provide additional guidelines for rescheduling this appointment.
- Once two total no-shows and cancellations have been recorded, this may result in a Student Concern Form submission at the discretion of your advisor. You can learn more about Student Concern Forms by referring to the Student Handbook.
PY4 Required Advising
PY4 students are required to make an appointment with the advisor and coordinator in Experiential Services sometime throughout the academic year. This is to discuss how they are doing during PY4/on APPE rotations, go over and discuss their Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Plan and Continuing Education (CE) activities, and explore further opportunities to help them grow as professional student pharmacists nearing graduation.
How do I need to prepare?
Prior to advising you will maintain and complete your CPD plan in CORE CompMS, which includes your CE activities, required reflections and assessments, and an updated CV.
Where can I find requirements and guidelines for the CPD and CE activities?
You can find the PY4 CPD and CE requirements, along with a description and example activities of CE, under PY4 CPD and Continuing Education Requirements below.
I’m confused on some of the requirements and am unsure of a certain activity can count – what should I do?
If you have any questions after reading through the this webpage and its materials, reach out to your advisor!
When and how do I schedule my advising appointment?
You will be able to schedule your advising appointment anytime during your PY4 year, as long as all CPD and CE activities are completed in CORE CompMS. You will schedule your required CPD appointment on Microsoft Bookings with your advisor. Students who are unable to come to their home campus for advising may meet with their advisor electronically (e.g. Zoom, Skype, telephone). Make sure to select the meeting type that will work for you based on your rotation–phone or Zoom.
What if I don’t have my CPD, CE activities, and advising appointment completed by the end of my PY4 year?
PY4 students who fail to complete their CPD and satisfy the annual advising requirement will result in delay of graduation verification (including verification of internship hours) to any state board of pharmacy.
Co-curricular Areas, Expectations & Examples
PY1-3 student pharmacists are expected to engage in a specific number of high-quality co-curricular activities and to reflect on these experiences as part of mandatory academic advising during each spring semester.
What can count as a co-curricular activity?
- It is not an expectation and/or a requirement for a course. Note: IPPE and APPE rotations and their requirements are part of the curriculum and cannot be used as co-curricular activities.
- It relates to the co-curricular area for which you are hoping to use the activity.
- You can articulate how the activity enhances your development as a student pharmacist.
- The activity has occurred during the didactic year for which you are hoping to use it for.
For each curricular area, a definition of the area, examples of accepted activities and the associated student learning outcomes are provided below.
Please note: The examples provided for each area below do not encompass an exhaustive list or depict what activities you must engage in. They are provided to help you get an idea of what type activities you might engage in for a particular area. If you are unsure if an activity can count/what to engage in after reading the guidelines presented above and about each co-curricular area, please reach out to your advisor.
Public Health
In this area student pharmacists present health and wellness information, participate in community service that is directly related to support public wellness using strategies that respect individual patient needs, including culture and educational level. These activities may include assessing, advising and monitoring individual patient’s health or monitoring disease progression. Students advocate for patients by suggesting appropriate therapy as appropriate with other members of or aspects within the health care system. (Associated Student Learning Outcomes: 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, 3F, 4A, 4C, 4D)
Example activities include:
- Students interacting directly with members of the community to positively impact wellness by providing health information or related service.
- Suicide prevention poster presentation
- OTC Medication safety
- Stroke prevention
- Smoking prevention
- Providing care for underserved patients in the community
- Work as an intern (paid or volunteer—cannot be an IPPE)
- Providing direct patient care through education and screening.
- Disease risk assessment (hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, HIV, cholesterol)
- Disease prevention (vaccination outreaches)
- Brown Bag events
Professional Development
Student pharmacists identify career interests and passions in addition to developing personal and professional strengths through interactions with pharmacists and other health care providers. Through this domain, students should engage in activities that focus on exploration of the profession or personal professional development. (Associated Student Learning Outcomes: 3D, 3E, 3F, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D)
Example activities include:
- Meeting with a staff member in the Student Success Center for personal/professional development, such as the Career Services Manager or Learning/ESL Specialist
- Career Seminar Series presentation attendance
- Active participation and engagement in professional student organizations (membership alone is insufficient)
- Career Fair attendance
- Local, regional, and national meeting attendance
- Attendance at seminars focused on community health topics, professional development or personal enrichment.
- Interaction with a professional mentor, such as through the Fred Meyer Alumni-Student Mentor Program
- Actively pursuing a dual degree or certificate or the Research Honors PharmD program
- Live CE programing
- Participating in a competition, such as for counseling, clinical skills, compounding, etc.
- Running for a leadership position locally, regionally or nationally
- Legislative day participation
Leadership and Innovation
Student pharmacists engage in activities that allow for the expansion of leadership skills by working collaboratively with others to innovatively address problems, accomplish common goals, or engage in research and scholarship. Students must show that they have made a substantive creative contribution to the development or communication of a project or service either in collaboration with or having an impact on others. (Associated Student Learning Outcomes: 3A, 3D, 3F, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D)
Example activities include:
- Hold a leadership position in a professional or student focused organization
- Demonstrate impact through service on a college, university or professional organization committee
- Involvement as a representative on the Pharmacy Student Advisory Council
- Participation with a research project
- Dissemination of findings from a research or scholarship (poster or presentation)
- Implementation of a new or novel solution
- Creation of a business plan
- Creation of new knowledge
- Organizing outreach programming or activities
CPD and Co-Curricular/Continuing Education
Requirements by Academic Year
All students will submit their CPD and Co-Curricular Requirements in CORE CompMS. To access CompMS, please do the following:
- Login to your CORE ELMS account.
- Once logged-in, toggle to CompMS in the top right hand corner of your screen.
- Once in CompMS, click ‘View Course’ to view and submit all of your CPD and Co-Curricular requirements.
PY1 CPD and Co-Curricular Requirements
Below you will find a condensed list of the PY1 CPD and co-curricular requirements. Please download and save the PY1 CPD and Co-Curricular Requirements PDF for further details (reflections questions and rubric, guidelines, parameters, etc.). You will complete these requirements in full in CORE CompMS:
- Updated CV
- Confidence Assessment
- Personal Statement
- Three co-curricular activities and corresponding reflections for each area:
- One Public Health activity
- Two Professional Development activities
As a PY1, co-curricular activities may start to count once you are an active PY1 student (i.e. have started coursework in August) in the PharmD Program and up to one week before your PY1 Advising Appointment in the spring semester.
From a development perspective, the first academic year is focused on the following question: Who am I as a professional student pharmacist? To that end, students will be required to participate in three co-curricular activities during the academic year that focus on problem solving, communication, self-awareness and professionalism, then reflect on the value of those experiences through structured reflection. (Student Learning Outcomes: 3A, 3F, 4A, 4D)
PY2 CPD and Co-Curricular Requirements
- Below you will find a condensed list of the PY2 CPD and co-curricular requirement. Please download and save the PY2 CPD and Co-Curricular Requirements PDF for further details (reflections questions and rubric, guidelines, parameters, etc.). You will complete these requirements in full in CORE CompMS:
- Updated CV
- Confidence Assessment
- Personal Statement
- Three co-curricular activities and corresponding reflections for each area:
- Two Public Health activities
- One Professional Development activity
As a PY2, co-curricular activities may start to count once the Spring semester of your PY1 academic year has officially ended (last day of the term has passed in April/May) and up to one week before your PY2 Advising Appointment in the spring semester.
The second academic year focus is on: Who am I as a health care provider? To that end, students will be required to participate in three co-curricular activities during the year with a focus on interprofessional collaboration, demonstration of cultural sensitivity, communication, self-awareness, leadership and professionalism, then reflect on the value of those experiences through structured reflection. (Student Learning Outcomes: 3D, 3E, 3F, 4A, 4B, 4D)
PY3 CPD and Co-Curricular Requirements
Below you will find a condensed list of the PY3 CPD and co-curricular requirement. Please download and save the PY3 CPD and Co-Curricular Requirements PDF for further details (reflections questions and rubric, guidelines, parameters, etc.). You will complete these requirements in full in CORE CompMS:
- Updated CV
- Confidence Assessment
- Overall Development as a Professional Student Reflection
- Three co-curricular activities and corresponding reflections for each area:
- One Public Health activity
- One Professional Development activity
- One Leadership and Innovation activity
As a PY3, co-curricular activities may start to count once the Spring semester of your PY2 academic year has officially ended (last day of the term has passed in April/May) and up to one week before your PY3 Advising Appointment in the spring semester.
The third academic year is designed to allow students to answer the question; Who am I as an innovative individual who serves to meet the needs of the community? To that end, students will be required to participate in at least three co-curricular activities during the year that focus on education, patient advocacy, cultural sensitivity, self-awareness, leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship and professionalism, then reflect on the value of those experiences through structured reflection. (Student Learning Outcomes: 3B, 3C, 3E, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D)
PY4 CPD and Continuing Education Requirements
Below you will find a condensed list of the PY4 CPD and continuing education requirements. Please download and save the PY4 CPD and CE Requirements PDF for further details (reflections questions and rubric, guidelines, parameters, etc.). You will complete these requirements in full in CORE CompMS:
- Updated CV
- Confidence Assessment
- Personal and Professional Growth Reflection
- Three hours of Continuing Education (CE)
- During the PY4 year student pharmacists are expected to complete three hours of Continuing Education (CE). The CE activities you engage in should focus on professional or personal development and can be completed in your geographic location or virtually, or through association meetings. This is to help transition you to the completion of CE requirements needed for annual licensure once a professional pharmacist and to ensure you are actively engaged in lifelong learning. The three hours of professional development that you showcase through attendance during CE should strategically align with professional development goals articulated in the CPD plan. For example, this can be:
- 1 event lasting three hours
- Or any combination that totals three hours
- Should result in a certificate of completion
- What can count as a CE activity?
- It should not be a rotation requirement – it should instead be an additional activity in which you engage outside of those requirements. For example, your preceptor may require you to attend a presentation–this would not be considered.
- These can be in-person or online. Please see the link above for a more comprehensive outline of what is suggested.
- It relates to the purpose of the PY4 Continuing Education requirement.
- You can articulate how the activity enhances your development as a student pharmacist.
- The activity has occurred during the program year for which you are hoping to use it for. For PY4, activities may start to count once the Spring semester of your PY3 academic year has officially ended (last day of the term has passed in April/May) and by the time of your PY4 academic advising appointment
- During the PY4 year student pharmacists are expected to complete three hours of Continuing Education (CE). The CE activities you engage in should focus on professional or personal development and can be completed in your geographic location or virtually, or through association meetings. This is to help transition you to the completion of CE requirements needed for annual licensure once a professional pharmacist and to ensure you are actively engaged in lifelong learning. The three hours of professional development that you showcase through attendance during CE should strategically align with professional development goals articulated in the CPD plan. For example, this can be:
The fourth academic year is designed to allow students to answer the question; How can I advance practice as a pharmacist to meet the needs of the community? To that end, students will be required to participate in at least three hours of CE during the year that focus on professional development, self-awareness, leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship and professionalism, then reflect on the value of those experiences through structured reflection. (Student Learning Outcomes: 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D)