“PharmCamp” Comes to STC in the Phoenix Warehouse District

The U of A program, known as PharmCamp, was organized by Dr. Theodore Tong, Associate Dean of the College of Pharmacy at the U of A. Twenty-six middle-school kids from the Lowell School came to STC headquarters, curious and engaged, especially when STC’s podcast host, Jack Mangan, asked them to join him in the chant, “Vaccines Save Lives.” They came to STC after visiting a Walgreen’s pharmacy, where they learned about vaccinations. At STC, they saw how the data on those vaccines is turned into actionable intelligence. They also learned about jobs in coding, customer support and marketing.

The program is aimed at inner-city kids. Dr. Tong was grateful for the students’ exposure to non-traditional jobs. His goal for the program is to expose kids to jobs in healthcare while simultaneously raising their career horizons. “Their parents don’t work in places like this,” he pointed out.

For over a decade, these programs have been a labor of love for Dr. Tong. “I don’t get paid for this,” he said. “This is my vacation time.” He does, however, get to see his efforts pay off. “We started in ’97, and I now have kids who come to medical school, see me, and come over to say, 'I was in PharmCamp!'”