Abbie Huneycutt is a second-year student pharmacist at Wingate University School of Pharmacy who turned a difficult family experience into a calling to care for others. Drawn to Wingate’s close-knit, family feel and supportive faculty, she’s now passionate about being the kind of pharmacist who shows up for patients and their families when it matters most.

How did you choose your pharmacy school?

I chose Wingate because of the family atmosphere that our pharmacy school offers and how every person there truly cares about each students success. I was familiar with the campus because this is where I attended undergraduate as well, so I was able to feel super comfortable and was able to form connections from the beginning of my undergraduate career. I had the privilege of having my Intro to Wingate course for freshman led by a faculty member from the School of Pharmacy since I was a Chemistry, pre-pharmacy major. This connection to the pharmacy school helped make my decision to attend Wingate easy and the faculty and current students helped me ensure I was making the right decision.

What do you wish you had known before applying to pharmacy school?

I wish I had known how important organizational skills and good time management is for graduate level students. I find myself just now finding a good balance between school, work, and activities outside of pharmacy. I think the transition to pharmacy school would’ve been easier if I had found this balance sooner. I also wish I would’ve taken the time to really appreciate every single moment of the application process and time in pharmacy school because it flies by so quickly!

Why did you choose pharmacy?

I chose pharmacy because I wanted to provide direct patient care in the ways that my family was fortunate enough to receive. My father had a liver transplant my senior year of high school (2021) and it was a very challenging time for my entire family. I was working at a local community pharmacy during this time to help me understand if pharmacy is where I wanted to be before deciding for sure on my major for college. The pharmacist I was working for at the time truly impacted my family's life during this difficult time more than I can describe. She was the first person to ask me how my father was doing and if there was absolutely anything she could do. She also answered all of my mother’s calls about anything medication related or medical care questions at all times of the day. She truly served our family in anyway she could at that time and it made a huge difference in my life. This helped me understand that this is exactly what I wanted to do.

Describe your career path and how you got into pharmacy.

I’m undecided of what avenue of pharmacy I would like to pursue in the future, but I’m so excited to complete my clinical rotations and continue to learn different paths that pharmacist can take. As of now, my interests align with ambulatory care, inpatient hospital, and independent community pharmacy. I’m super excited to see where I end up as a pharmacist!

What does a typical workday/school day look like for you?

As a P2, I have a very flexible schedule with Mondays off completely to allow us to study, work, or just relax before the week begins. I have classes all day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Tuesdays include pre-lab (to help us understand the activities we will perform during lab on Wednesdays), a neuropharmacy course, a GI/Hepatic course, and recitation (which is a time for us to ask our professors questions leading up to our exam block on Fridays). On Wednesdays I attend Skills Lab, which is our lab days where we are able to do more hands-on work such as compounding medications, practicing counseling patients, and working through patient cases. I also have IPE which is our interprofessional education course that we take with first year PA students to learn how our two professions work together and learn proper communication and teamwork skills. I then have a pharmacy practice and community engagement course where we complete projects on public health issues and learn how to begin performing our own research. On Thursdays, I attend the neuropharmacy course, and GI/Hepatic course again and I also have a teaching and learning elective where I learn the science behind teaching and the different learning methods to help students find success in the classroom. On Fridays, I have an exam block that typically last from 9am-11:30am where we take whichever exam falls on that specific week. We also have a 1-1.5 hour lunch break each day included in the times I explained above. I also take an online sports pharmacy elective which I’m able to self-pace and I normally complete this work on Mondays.

Describe the most rewarding aspects of your career.

The most rewarding aspects of pharmacy for me as a student are getting to see the impact pharmacists can make while on clinical rotations and the impact we can make as students when involved in organizations through our school by performing community service and community outreach projects!

Describe the most challenging aspect of your career.

The most challenging aspect of pharmacy school for me was adjusting to thinking of school as my full time job and putting in sufficient time to achieve success in every class. I find it difficult to shift between different subjects constantly, but I have found appreciation in understanding how each body system impacts the care of others.

What advice would you give to a current student who is interested in pursuing a similar type of career in the future?

One piece of advice I would give to a student who is interested in pharmacy would be to work in a pharmacy or shadow a pharmacist to ensure this is what you want to do and once you feel sure, dive in head first and go into this with your entire heart. There will be times where you feel scared, but it’s important to work hard and trust yourself!

Share a brief story about a time you had a positive impact in your role.

I have felt like I made a positive impact while working in community pharmacy as a student because I’ve been able to help patients navigate refilling their medications and finding good Rx coupons or talking with the insurance company to help their medications be more affordable for them. I love to see a patients smile when we can help them make their medications more affordable or help make their life easier in any way even if it’s just synchronizing their medications so they only have to visit the pharmacy once a month.

Describe how you manage school/life balance.

I have learned to treat school as a full-time job and to remember that the effort I put into school will help me achieve the desired results I would like to see in the classroom. My priorities align with school and taking care of myself by being active or doing things I love, so I find ways to implement small times throughout the day to practice self-care. I think this balance looks different for each person, but I think it’s important to remember you’re a person outside of pharmacy school as well, so allow some time each day to relax and take care of yourself because you deserve it!