While Instagram is sometimes considered an application for pictures of cuisine or exotic travels, many medical experts use it to create a platform and communicate their viewpoints. Instagram provides a special platform for pharmacists and pharmacy students to engage with others while sharing ideas from the field.
Instagram’s purely visual nature may initially appear constrictive, but posting pictures and tales from pharmacy school can let students express viewpoints that distinguish them. We interviewed pharmacy students utilizing Instagram to launch their careers in the field, including distance learners and those who used social media to communicate with others amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Samantha Zhang
Sabrina Zhang started using Instagram as a third-year student at Boston’s Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences MCPHS to chronicle her singular path toward becoming a pharmacist. More than 3200 people follow her on Instagram, where her account gets more than 2000 views per week under the handle la. Farmacia. Despite how great this is, Zhang told Pharmacy Times that she finds the actual benefit in interacting with other people.
In an email, Zhang added, “The meaningful connections I have via [direct messaging] with people who are pharmacy enthusiasts and those in the health care are more significant to me than analytics.” “I feel satisfied when I can use part of my expertise and skills to benefit others and gain from them.”
Zhang said she knew virtually nothing about pharmacy as a first college student. She put a lot of effort into networking during her college years at Boston College in Massachusetts and researching pharmacy. She started an Instagram account to share her experiences as a first-generation student with others who might be interested in learning more.
Another draw of the app was its aesthetic appeal. Zhang claimed that it enables her to publish appealing material incorporating knowledge and beauty. Additionally, the website has opened up many new doors for communication and discovering data that may not be found elsewhere.
According to Zhang, I worked with other health-care coverage and educational accounts as well as brands that contacted me about partnerships thanks to Instagram.”I genuinely value expanding my network and creating relationships with students, pharmacists, pharmacists, and other healthcare industry members. This platform has allowed me to learn life skills outside of the classroom.
Mehr Virk
Many students saw their plans disrupted when the COVID pandemic started. Mehr Virk, a PGY critical care pharmacist intern, started a podcast and an Instagram profile to interact with her listeners as she had more free time than usual. Virk’s account, life on the pharm podcast, has a devoted following after more than two years. Her road to being a professional pharmacist is chronicled in her podcast, and her Instagram account allows listeners another way to get to know her.
Virk explained in an email to Pharmacy Times, “Instagram is, for me, a terrific instrument to not only store memories and ideas from the past but also engage in real-time with others.” Maintaining a blog includes the chance to write to others, trade links, answer questions privately and openly, focus on information and tools I believe can be helpful, and give readers a peek into the other aspects of my life.
According to Virk, she loves to keep her content fresh and interesting. There are several ways to interact on Instagram, including by sharing Reels, videos, or photographs. A platform called Linktree, which users may use to follow links from Virk’s platform and find further information, is also used by Virk.
Virk has key objectives in mentoring and supporting the pharmacy industry, and she claims that Instagram enables her to achieve both regularly. Maintaining a blog includes the chance to write to others, trade links, answer questions privately and openly, focus on information and tools I believe can be helpful, and give readers a peek into the other aspects of my life. “Everything I underwent to get where I am now, someone else had experienced themselves or known someone who had.”
Providing insight and clarity regarding the work of a pharmacist would help others feel more knowledgeable about pharmacy.
According to Virk, authenticity is essential for anyone trying to develop their Instagram following. She continued by saying that studying pharmacy is difficult, and knowing when to back off and enjoy the present is important. Her current objectives are to keep publishing content and possibly use Instagram Stories more frequently to engage with people. Virk emphasized that pharmacy students should prioritize figuring out and pursuing their ideal career path.