In this week’s Fellow Feature, we highlight Jenna Ingram and Alexandria (Allie) Taylor – graduate students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy.
Meet Jenna and Allie!
Jenna hails from Long Island, New York. When deciding on her undergraduate destination, she always knew that she wanted to live in a city. When asked how she decided on Pittsburgh, she told us how she ended up in the Steel City.
“When I was choosing colleges for a undergrad I really wanted to be in a city, but my only reference point for a city was Manhattan growing up. I knew that was way too much for me. My dad visited Pittsburgh before and thought I’d love it. Pitt is a good school and they have a Pharmacy School as well. But, I was 17 and I said ‘Dad you don’t know what I like; you’re wrong!’ But when I visited Pitt, I fell in love with the city and the pharmacy program.”
Allie is originally from the Pittsburgh area, however, she elected to start her undergraduate studies in North Carolina. After two years in a very rural area, Allie said, “I realized Pittsburgh has so much to offer! It’s a really great city, and when I was looking at pharmacy schools I decided to come back to Pitt.”
Growing up, Jenna and Allie were both members of the Girl Scouts non-profit organization. Completing different service projects throughout the years, this pair has always strived to make a difference in communities both local and abroad.
In May of this year, Jenna and Allie both traveled to Namibia to learn about its healthcare and pharmaceutical system. While there, they worked in different hospitals and connecting with pharmacy students to understand what challenges the students face there compared to what they face in the US as pharmacy students. In their free time, Jenna and Allie went on a safari and quad riding on sand dunes.
These project partners, and best friends, are providing health literacy workshops for refugees, and they are working with Literacy Pittsburgh and Catholic Charities as they implement their project.
When asked about what inspired them to develop these workshops, both Jenna and Allie stressed the important link between communication and health.
“I think a lot of people are unaware that there are so many refugees here. The majority of these refugees speak Nepali or Swahili. Those are obviously not commonly spoken languages in this area, besides refugee groups,” Jenna said. “There is a real need for these people to get help accessing healthcare, and being able to communicate with their healthcare providers, so we’re just trying to help a little bit.”
Allie explained, “Healthcare is essential; it is a basic to life. A lot of times, refugees don’t know how to access it. We want to empower them and teach them the basics so that they can grow and really take ownership of their health.”
Their project provides an 8-week program that teaches refugees in the Pittsburgh area a variety of topics, including:
- Introduction to Pharmacy
- Picking up and Dropping off Medication
- Over the Counter vs. Prescription Medication
- High Blood Pressure
- Diabetes
At the conclusion of the 8 week program, Jenna and Allie will provide a month of meetings with individuals to cover topics more in-depth, such as: applying for health insurance, how to afford specific medications, and scheduling appointments.
Both Allie and Jenna were excited to become a part of Pittsburgh Schweitzer not only because of the opportunity to give back to the community, but also to join a network of Fellows from a wide range of disciplines. Allie explained that working with Fellows from other disciplines, “we can learn so much from each other and we can come up with better solutions when we work all together.”
To support Jenna and Allie’s Health Literacy Workshops, click here.
