Pharmacy Student Participates in Front-Line COVID-19 Testing

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Florida continues to struggle to contain the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. In an effort to make COVID-19 testing as convenient and accessible as possible, faculty, students, and administrators from the University of South Florida (USF) Colleges of Pharmacy, Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health partnered with Hillsborough County in April to expand testing sites. These sites were strategically placed to target underserved communities and provided drive-thru or walk-in testing three days a week. Personal protective equipment (PPE) was provided to all volunteers on site and specific protocols were established to ensure safety. ACCP student member Sydney Anderson, a fourth year student at the USF Taneja College of Pharmacy, had the opportunity to volunteer at the Lee Davis Community Resource Center testing location during a 5-week elective rotation under the guidance of her preceptor, ACCP member Teresa Ho, Pharm.D., BCPS.

COVID-19 testing in the unrelenting Florida summer heat can be quite daunting, especially when using PPE. Sydney spent every morning at the testing site, braving the heat while gloved-up and sporting an N-95 mask. She was responsible for labeling vial after vial of COVID-19 nasal swabs, working alongside nurse practitioner students, medical students, and faculty. “This has been one of the most rewarding interprofessional experiences I’ve encountered because of the camaraderie,” Sydney observed. “Everyone was always supportive and in good spirits as we worked as a team managing to swab 200-400 patients over four hours. I’m grateful for the small but important role I had in our nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, especially with my home state of Florida being one of the COVID-19 hot spots.” 

Sydney called attention to the Florida governor’s issuance of an Emergency Order allowing pharmacists to order and administer COVID-19 tests, thereby expanding testing capacity across the state. In addition to Dr. Ho, her role at the testing site was supported by other USF College of Pharmacy faculty, including ACCP members Kristy Shaeer and Janelle Perkins, and Kevin Sneed, James Lambert, and Carol Fox