Pharm.D. Students Place Second in National Competition

Three students from the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences won second place among 100 teams nationwide in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Clinical Pharmacy Challenge on October 12–14 at the ACCP annual meeting in Albuquerque, NM.

The St. John’s squad—composed of James Schurr ’14 Pharm.D., Stephen Argiro ’14 Pharm.D., and Jennifer Miao ’14 Pharm.D.—is among only eight teams that made it to the quarterfinal round of the competition. The 100 teams participating in the contest represented colleges and universities from 42 states. Teams competed online during the early rounds with the final 8 teams competing face to face at the annual meeting.

“I am so proud of James, Stephen, and Jen,” said Sharon See, Pharm.D., BCPS, associate clinical professor of clinical pharmacy practice and faculty advisor to the team. “They competed on the highest level in this national competition and did so well.”

In Albuquerque, the teams competed against each other in a trivia/lightning round, a clinical case, and a Jeopardy-style contest, which included categories such as cardiology, endocrinology, GI/liver/nutrition, and infectious diseases.

In the first quarterfinal matchup, St. John’s defeated Northeastern University by a narrow margin of 10 points and then engineered an amazing come-from-behind victory over Thomas Jefferson University School of Pharmacy in the final minutes of the semifinals. In the finals, St. John’s was edged out by Eastern Tennessee State University’s Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy.

“The students who competed represent the best that St. John’s University has to offer,” said See. “Their success is also due to the wonderful faculty, mentors, and preceptors that have trained them along the way.”