Jordan Perrine is a fourth-year student pharmacist at University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) College of Pharmacy and is enrolled in the University of Memphis MBA degree program. She will graduate from both the pharmacy and the business programs in May 2018. Before her study at UTHSC, she earned a B.S. degree in chemistry and business from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.
Perrine is actively engaged in many organizations and has been an ACCP member since her second year at UTHSC. UTHSC’s lack of an active ACCP student chapter has not prevented her from participating in ACCP activities. As a member-at-large of the 2017 ACCP National Student Network Advisory Committee, Perrine has been asked by students across the country how ACCP membership adds to her professional growth. “[ACCP] gave me a unique opportunity to speak to students from across the country about their schools and learn from what they are doing,” she states. “It is truly amazing to see the impact student members make through seminars and interprofessional activities.” Perrine, who believes that other students may also be limited by what their school offers or the experiences available in their geographic region, finds that her clinical expertise has grown through discovering what is out there and what other members find important.
Although neither of her parents were in health care, they instilled in her a mindset for serving others. “When I decided to apply to pharmacy school, I had a plan that my parents were proud of,” she explains. And “while they knew nothing about pharmacy, they understood I was following my own path to serve others.”
Before entering pharmacy school, Perrine imagined her future position in a pediatric hospital pharmacy, making a positive impact on children and their families. However, as she progressed from pre-pharmacy to the pharmacy program, she was largely exposed to the world of clinical pharmacy:
"When I got to pharmacy school and I started hearing these foreign words like 'clinical pharmacy' and 'PGY2,' I realized I may have missed a piece or two in my pre-pharmacy life plan. Now that I am a little bit wiser, after the teaching and continued guidance of all of the faculty members at UTHSC, I realize how truly lucky I have been in finding the right mentors to help me find my path to clinical pharmacy and the future."
Outside pharmacy school, Perrine enjoys working as a pharmacy intern at CVS Pharmacy and serving as a pharmacokinetic tutor for UTHSC Student Academic Support Services. After graduation, she wishes to advance her professional competencies by pursing a PGY1 pharmacy practice residency and plans to pursue a career that provides her the opportunity to teach or mentor students. With a strong passion for pediatric patients, Perrine plans to achieve her career goal by subsequently completing a PGY2 residency in pediatrics.
Aside from school, Perrine’s personal goal is to run her first half marathon and full marathon before graduation. Perrine completed her half marathon during her P2 year, and although she will be in Montana for a rotation on her planned marathon race day, she will undoubtedly complete her first full marathon in the near future.