Ryan Nolan

UConn School of Pharmacy

I was born and raised in Watertown, Connecticut. As a volunteer at the Special Olympics held at Southern Connecticut University, I worked at the long jump station and made sure the event was ready for every competitor. This was my first time working with this specific underserved population and this experience will help with UST as you have to learn about new populations and empathize with them. Working at the Towne Apothecary (independent retail pharmacy) is also relevant to this program because in retail pharmacy you get a variety of people and I was able to observe the pharmacists I worked under help underserved populations (ex: spending more time with them to go over their medications).

I sought involvement in UST because I wanted to be challenged, to work with different health care professionals, and to help the most vulnerable individuals in our communities. Working directly with underserved patients will push me to become a more effective communicator and help me better understand the struggles of people that might resemble future patients of mine. To improve health care in this country we have to recognize health disparities instead of ignore them and UST recognizes these issues and tackles them head on.