School of Pharmacy APhA Academy of Student Pharmacists

The mission of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists is to be the collective voice of student pharmacists, to provide opportunities for professional growth, and to envision and actively promote the future of pharmacy.

What APhA-ASP Means to You

APhA-ASP is an organization for all pharmacy students, no matter what career path you pursue. Students learn more about the profession of pharmacy through meetings with guest speakers and through State and National meetings. Students also get the opportunity to use what they learn in the classroom at various community events such as health fairs, patient care projects, and the National Patient Counseling Competition. Aside from the professional benefits of being a member, APhA-ASP can also be fun. From community service activities like the Relay for Life to monthly social activities including paintball and ice-skating, APhA-ASP provides the foundation for close friendships and lasting memories.

History of APhA-ASP

The APhA Academy of Student Pharmacists unofficially began in 1921 when students from the University of North Carolina petitioned the APhA Council to be recognized as an APhA student branch. Since then, the student section of APhA has gone through a steady evolutionary process. After the first student branch was recognized, many other schools and colleges of pharmacy began to form their own student branches.

In 1954, a formal student section was created due largely to the efforts of the late Dr. Linwood F. Tice of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, who felt that students needed a voice in the nation's professional society of pharmacists. This allowed students the opportunity to send one delegate to the APhA House of Delegates. This progress continued until 1969 when the APhA membership approved new bylaws which created three Association subdivisions, one of which was the Student American Pharmaceutical Association (SAPhA). During the next ten years, the number of student delegates in the APhA House of Delegates increased from one to 15. That number increased to 28 in 1986 after passage of new APhA bylaws that created the APhA Academy of Students of Pharmacy (APhA-ASP).

At the 2004 Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington, APhA-ASP celebrated 35 years as an official Aademy of APhA. During the meeting, the 2004 APhA-ASP House of Delegates voted in favor of a proposed resolution to change the Academy's name to the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists, in order to better define the professional role of studetn pharmacists and to emphasize students' commitment to the profession of pharmacy.