The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA) Generation Next – PPA Mentorship Network is designed to develop meaningful relationships between student pharmacists and practicing pharmacists across the state.
Through mentorship, the program aims to promote professional growth, career exploration, leadership development, networking, and continued involvement and advocacy within the pharmacy profession.
Our goals of the Mentorship Network program include:
- Create lasting connections between student pharmacists and pharmacist mentors
- Expose student pharmacists to diverse pharmacy career paths
- Develop future leaders within the profession of pharmacy and within local/state/national organizations
- Encourage long-term mentor relationships beyond the program
- Strengthen engagement between student pharmacists and practicing pharmacists
The Mentorship Network is a voluntary mentoring program that pairs student pharmacists from the 7 Pennsylvania Schools of Pharmacy with one practicing pharmacist based on shared interests, career goals, and professional experiences. All student pharmacist mentees and pharmacist mentors must be a current PPA member to participate.
The program is intentionally flexible and designed to accommodate busy professional and academic schedules. Mentor-mentee pairs are encouraged to communicate initially via email to connect and find a time to meet. Then, meetings are to be held over zoom/microsoft teams, over the phone, or in person if both parties are local. It is a very relaxed structure, so please take advantage of the structure and opportunity to ask numerous questions, network, and grow as a student pharmacist. How the meeting is conducted and what is discussed during the meeting is entirely up to the mentee and mentor; PPA nor the co-chairs will be scheduling the meetings.
You may meet as many or as few times with each other, but please be sure to take advantage of the program and the opportunity to build your network!
The co-chairs of the Mentorship Network will, to the best of their ability, to pair mentors/mentees based on:
- Practice settings/interests
- Career aspirations/Professional goals
- Leadership interests
- Geographic region (if possible)
- Shared hobbies/interests
The program’s first cohort will run from October 2026 and into January 2027. This will allow ample time to meet virtually even with very busy schedules. This also flows into the February PPA Annual Conference where mentees/mentors may have the chance to meet in person if both parties are in attendance!
Documents will be sent out when the connection of the mentee/mentor is made by Matthew or Yenok to help guide and aid in the conversation of the meetings. Mentors are expected to take the lead and engage in meaningful conversations that lead to the professional, personal, and academic growth of the student pharmacist mentee. Please lean on and utilize these documents to help create conversations. Topics on this document include:
- Introductions
- Career journey
- Professional goals
- Introductions
- Career journey
- Professional goals
- Career pathways
- IPPE/APPE Rotations
- Internship advice
- Time management
- Leadership/Professional organization opportunities
- Conferences
- Resume/CV review
- Interview preparation/workshop
- LinkedIn profile/Professional branding
- Residency or fellowship discussions
- Job market
- Work-life balance
- Burnout prevention
Appropriate discussions outside of these topics are encouraged to help the student pharmacist mentee grow as much as possible – the above topics simply serve as a guide.
Throughout the duration of the program, if you are having trouble getting in touch with your mentor/mentee, please reach out to the program co-chairs Matthew Rozic ([email protected]) or Yenok Admassu ([email protected]) so they may help troubleshoot and attempt to get both parties connected. We can also reassign on an as needed basis.
There will be a follow-up survey at the conclusion of the program for feedback and input on the structure, experience, and success/pitfalls of the Mentorship Network. Please give honest feedback as we look to continue this in future years to help bring value to a PPA membership for both students and pharmacists to grow as a professional and expand their network.
We look forward to helping you take the next step in your professional journey through the PPA Mentorship Network. If you have any questions or concerns at all about the program, please reach out to program co-chairs Matthew Rozic ([email protected]) or Yenok Admassu ([email protected]). Thank you for your interest in this initiative!
Note: By applying to be a mentor or a mentee, members enrolled in the Generation Next program have agreed to abide by the PPA Code of Conduct and the program guidelines as outlined in the application.
All student pharmacist mentees and pharmacist mentors must be a current PPA member to participate.
