ULM STUDENT NEEDED TO HELP
At the conclusion of the summer of 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita unleashed their fury on the southern portions of Louisiana, where 70% of University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) students reside. Although faced with impossible conditions and unbearable anxiety, ULM College of Pharmacy students surfaced as leaders of the volunteer efforts during Louisiana's time of need.
Pharmaceutical Care Post Hurricane
Candace Thibodeaux, a third-year pharmacy student from Lake Arthur, La, was one of many pharmacy students who felt helpless as she watched media coverage of the devastation. Because of her innate desire to serve, however, Candace contacted her supervisor at the Monroe, La, Wal-Mart Pharmacy and asked whether she could volunteer. By the next morning, she was providing pharmacy services to hundreds of evacuees at the Monroe Civic Center.
Candace tearfully recalled an elderly gentleman who had been rescued from his rooftop. During his rescue, he had lost his glasses and was quite disoriented. He had been given a prescription for glasses at the shelter but had no way to get it filled. To help, Candace drove him in her own car to a nearby vision center and got his glasses for him.The gentleman said that he would be eternally grateful to Candace for her selfless and caring act.
Candace was amazed at how a simple act of kindness meant so much to one man. She said that she was honored to have been able to touch lives, but she believes that it was her life that was ultimately changed.
Congratulations, Candace Thibodeaux
Pharmacy Times and Wal-Mart Inc are proud to honor Candace Thibodeaux for her volunteer efforts during the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by presenting her with the first Wal-Mart/Pharmacy Times RESPy AWARD. Candace was presented the RESPy AWARD by Phil Reynolds, Jr, RPh, and Jeff Brown, pharmacy divisional managers of Wal- Mart, and Jim Granato, publisher of Pharmacy Times, during the recent American Pharmacists Association annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif.
As he was presenting the award, Reynolds described the role played by student pharmacists by stating, "Pharmacy students represent the future of our profession. They are the ones who are going to continue driving this profession in a manner that will be respected." With the RESPy, he added, "we set out to honor someone who has set an example of excellence and an example of service.
" We are honoring [Candace's] initiative and the fact that she recognized, without anyone telling her, that there were people who needed help, and she could make a difference." Candace is an exemplary pharmacy student who made the choice to put the needs of others in front of her own. Thank you, Candace!
About the College
The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) College of Pharmacy was established 50 years ago, and today it is the only state-supported pharmacy program in Louisiana. The mission of the College of Pharmacy is to educate health care professionals to meet the diverse pharmaceutical care needs of the people of Louisiana and to serve the professions of pharmacy and toxicology through a balanced program of education, research, service, and patient care. The College of Pharmacy offers 3 distinct programs of study, including the professional doctoral program; the graduate studies program, which includes the Master of Science and the Doctor of Philosophy degrees in pharmacy; and a Bachelor of Science degree in toxicology.
