It was during a pre-pharmacy summer camp at the University of Kansas in between her junior and senior high school years that Morgan Dolton first fell in love with the practice of pharmacy. The camp, focused on showing students what being a pharmacist is all about, was enough to convince the K-State undergraduate that not only was pharmacy the career path for her, but that KU was the place for her to study.
“I ended up choosing KU because I felt like KU really prepares its students for the future,” she said. “I've worked at some health care clinics, and I've been exposed to so many KU Alumni and KU residency pharmacists, and I felt like they were all amazing leaders. And I wanted to be as prepared as they were, and I really admired that about KU.”
Now about to enter her third year as a pharmacy student, Dolton has had the chance to experience that support, especially through the school’s peer mentor program where she has been both a mentee and mentor to other students.
“It takes a village to get through pharmacy school, and having your peers to lean on is something that is really impactful,” she said. “I noticed it helped me along the way - both emotional support going through graduate school, but also academic support as well.”
This past November, Dolton was named one of the two inaugural recipients of the Gary L. Grunewald School of Pharmacy Scholarships, named for the late KU professor of medicinal chemistry, an award that she says gave her the opportunity to pursue other opportunities at the school outside of academics.
“It completely wiped off any sort of financial stress completely off my plate, which has been a huge blessing,” Dolton said. “It allowed me to really focus on school and really focus on extracurricular work that I'm really passionate about and be more involved as a whole in the School of Pharmacy.”
One of those passions is her work as the Community Service Chair of the KU chapter of the National Community Pharmacists Association. This past January, Dolton helped organize a group of students to work alongside Kansas Mission of Mercy’s annual free dental clinic and dispense antibiotics and pain medications after patients came out of surgery. Through talking with patients, some of whom traveled six hours in sub-zero temperatures to attend the clinic, Dolton said she saw first-hand how pharmacists can make a life-changing difference in someone’s life.
“Pharmacy is way more than just counting pills,” she said. “You can serve your community and your patients in so many different ways.”
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