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Wilkes University Student Pharmacist Alexis Nicholson Chosen For National Pharmacy Quality Alliance, CVS Health Foundation Scholars Program

Wilkes-Barre, PA (08/15/2019) — Wilkes University fourth-year student pharmacist Alexis Nicholson of Breinigsville, Pa., was accepted in the national Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) and CVS Health Foundation scholars program. Nicholson is one of just 15 student pharmacists across the nation to be accepted into the program based upon their research proposal.

Mentored by Nicole Pezzino, director of community outreach in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy at Wilkes University, Nicholson's research focuses on how pharmacists can best communicate with prescribers after they identify high risk medication interactions. With a national response rate of 33%, Nicholson's goal is to learn how to increase the response.

As a PQA-CVS scholar, Nicholson receives funding to attend two national conferences and access to national mentors to assist in her research. PQA and the CVS Health Foundation provide a $1,250 stipend to each student within the mentor-mentee pair to support their expenses to attend and actively participate in up to two PQA live meetings. As part of the program, Nicholson also will present a poster detailing her project results and present it at the PQA annual meeting in May 2020.

The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) and the CVS Health Foundation have partnered to offer a scholars program that supports and recognizes student excellence in projects centered on quality-related initiatives. PQA-CVS Health Foundation scholars will design, implement and present a project related to quality measurement or improvement with the help of a mentor familiar with the quality landscape. The goal of this scholarship program is to encourage, promote, and improve education surrounding quality measures and value-based models of care; foster student interest and engagement in the development of quality-related initiatives; and foster student-mentor relationships.

For more stories about Wilkes University and its students, faculty and staff, please visit News@Wilkes.

About Wilkes University:

Wilkes University is a private, independent, non-sectarian institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence through mentoring in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. Founded in 1933, Wilkes is on a mission to create one of the nation's finest doctoral universities, offering all of the programs, activities and opportunities of a large university in the intimate, caring and mentoring environment of a small college, open to all who show promise. The Economist named Wilkes 25th in the nation for the value of its education for graduates. In addition to 46 majors, Wilkes offers 24 master's degree programs and five doctoral/terminal degree programs, including the doctor of philosophy in nursing, doctor of nursing practice, doctor of education, doctor of pharmacy, and master of fine arts in creative writing. Learn more at www.wilkes.edu.

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