Pharmacy Student Receives National Award for Commitment to Community and Profession

Dallas Smith, a sixth year University of Findlay pharmacy student, received the 2016 Walmart and Pharmacy Times RESPy (Respect, Excellence and Service in Pharmacy) Award for outstanding community work during an Oct. 19 ceremony in Ritz Auditorium.
He will also be featured in a full-page Pharmacy Times article highlighting his service and commitment to the profession; and receive a $1,000 scholarship from Walmart, hand-crafted mortar and pestle, and an invitation to the Walmart pharmacy internship program.
Smith’s accomplishments, which have also positively impacted many of his classmates and people from around the world, are numerous. Some of those include:

• Developing learning initiatives that focused on Vietnam, including educational opportunities, a visit and a student reunion;
• Co-founding Oilers Serving Abroad Service programs and coordinating trips to the Dominican Republic;
• Volunteering with World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms in Canada, UF’s Habitat for Humanity and its Mobile Food Pantry;
• Participating as a pharmacist volunteer for a West Ohio Conference Medical Mission Trip to Mexico;
• Performing wellness screenings for Marathon Petroleum Corporation;
• Participating in activities as a member of the Academy of Student Pharmacists and American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

Smith said he is humbled by the recognition, and credits “influential faculty and staff” who make it possible for students to make a difference in communities throughout the world.
“With mentors who have a passion for service and growth, students are better apt to make a difference in communities at a local, national and international level,” said Smith.
Smith’s interest in pharmacy was sparked by the myriad ways that workers in this profession can be proactive about helping people. “Instead of focusing on the treatment side of medicine, I pursued this career route because of the preventative avenue a pharmacist currently takes and the future impact a pharmacist can have on prevention measures,” he said.
“I am hard-pressed to imagine a young professional as involved as Dallas at the campus, community, national and international level,” wrote Debra Parker, Pharm.D., dean of the College of Pharmacy, when nominating Smith for the award. His efforts have presented to the public an image of a pharmacist who cares about health in the broadest sense, encompassing not only medications and disease, but nutrition, hygiene and living standards.”
Smith hopes to use his pharmacy and volunteer experience to initially serve in the Peace Corps.

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