Pharmacy student wins award for advocacy work

Marilyn Gaske

Pharmacy student Marilyn Gaske received the Good Government Student Pharmacist-of-the-Year Award from the American Pharmacists Association (APhA).

Gaske was recognized for her “innovative efforts and unique ability to engage her classmates at the UIC College of Pharmacy in policy advocacy.” She founded the Student Pharmacist Advocacy Coalition (SPAC) through which she has united nine student and professional pharmacist organizations in the name of advocacy.

SPAC hosts advocacy training, voter registration initiatives, and debates on controversial issues such as provider status and residency training. As policy vice president of UIC’s APhA-ASP (Academy of Student Pharmacists) chapter, Gaske coordinated students in a letter writing campaign in support of HB509 to grant pharmacists authority to prescribe birth control.

Gaske, the first UIC student to win the award, utilizes health fairs as an opportunity to educate the public about policy and survey them on their perceptions of pharmacists as providers.

She serves as a liaison between her ASP chapter and the Illinois Pharmacists Association (IPhA), where she is a member of the board of directors and House of Delegates.