Pharmacy Student Spotlight

By June Kirwin, RPh
Director of Pharmacy
Harris Family Medical Center
Melbourne, FL

June Kirwin and Suzanne Sum

At Harris Family Medical Center Pharmacy, we have had the pleasure of working with Suzanne Sum – a bright, energetic UF College of Pharmacy student.

Suzanne lives in Melbourne while studying pharmacy at the UF distance campus in Orlando. She has been working as a pharmacy intern, as well as, working through her practicum.

Suzanne has had a passion for science since childhood. She tells us that she was the child who asked questions incessantly. Learning the answers to her questions has been a source of great joy and satisfaction in her life.

Upon entering college, Suzanne followed this passion for science to pursue a chemical engineering degree. She gained many skills from her undergraduate studies: problem solving, creative thinking, teamwork, data analysis, and instrumentation. Along with these skills, she realized that she was not suited to working long hours with machines and conversing only with other scientists. She understood that she enjoyed being a part of people’s lives.

“A career in pharmacy will give me the opportunity to combine my two passions, science and health, while providing assistance to people in need.” – Suzanne Sum

Suzanne received her bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida in May 2004. The next month, the HFMC had the privilege of initiating Suzanne into life in the ’pharmacy world’. In the fall, she completed the transition and started classes at the UF COP distance campus in Orlando.

Suzanne manages to juggle the curriculum of a pharmacy student along with a two-hour commute several times a week to the Orlando campus. Additionally, she holds a part-time position at HFMC whenever time allows. She is so productive that we keep the door open for whenever she has availability!

Suzanne is a breath of fresh air for our pharmacy staff. She is a bundle of energy and comes to us equipped with a wealth of information from her pharmacy classes. We hope this relationship is mutually beneficial and try to demonstrate for Suzanne the best of pharmacy practice. In return, we reap from Suzanne’s sponge-like thirst for knowledge. It has been so exciting to see how fast she learns and how she combines her scientific prowess with her compassion for our patients. Suzanne Sum is going to be one amazing pharmacist!

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