Lane Slabaugh

I chose U.K. because after I had interviewed at several other colleges, I returned to my hometown of Lexington for my interview with the U.K. College of Pharmacy. While I was tempted by the idea of living in another new place I was also afraid of the distraction that it might offer me. When it came time to make a final decision, I chose U.K. because Lexington is a wonderful place, the U.K. College of Pharmacy is one of the most respected in the country, and I could stay close to my family.

My parents and much of my extended family live here in Lexington. I have physicians in my family and have therefore always been interested in the medical professions. However, I was never sure that becoming a physician was the right choice for me. Once I began looking at pharmacy as an option I knew that I had found the right path for me and everyone in my family has been tremendously supportive.

What was the most surprising thing about pharmacy school?

My classmates. Having had a one-of-a-kind experience as an undergraduate student, I expected pharmacy school to be nothing more than classroom instruction. I never thought that I would develop an entire new core group of friends who could match those friends from my childhood or college. I could not have been more wrong! The social network that has developed amongst us over the first two years has been what keeps us going day-to-day. My classmates and I not only force each other to keep busy with our school work, but we also do our best to keep each other normal and to make sure we do not forget to have a little fun every once in a while.

What’s the one thing you wish you had known in high school?

If I could have had one piece of advice given to me in high school, I would have liked to have understood that not everyone who is interested in biology and chemistry goes to medical school. At the time I felt that because I liked chemistry and biology the only sensible career path for me was medicine.

What’s the one thing you wish you had known in undergrad?

I wish that I had known more about pharmacy school as an undergraduate. I had never had anyone propose pharmacy school to me as an option that I might want to look in to. The first time that I ever considered pharmacy as a career option came by way of a flyer that was posted outside a professor’s office during my senior year of college. Once I began reading about the limitless opportunities that are available to pharmacists I knew that I had found a career path that fit me. However, this is certainly not to say that I wish that I had not finished my undergraduate degree. I believe that it is an irreplaceable asset that I could never imagine going without. Nor do I wish that I had not had to spend a year between my undergraduate graduation and beginning pharmacy school. My wish would be that I would not have had to spend that year completing my pre-pharmacy work and would have had the opportunity to spend it in a more adventuresome way.

What do you love most about U.K.?

There are two things that I love about U.K. One of these is Lexington itself. Lexington not only has a friendly, small-town feel, but it is also a growing city with a great deal to offer a young professional student such as myself. While school takes up a great deal of my time, I still have a chance to make it out to Keeneland, play a round of golf, or go to a U.K. basketball game every once in a while. That brings me to the other thing that I love about U.K. I attended a very small university as an undergraduate and I feel like I really missed out on the atmosphere and camaraderie that goes along with college sports. While we did have division III athletics at Washington and Lee, it does not create the excitement that division I athletics does. Because I grew up in Lexington I have always been a U.K. fan, and now that I am a student here it has only reinforced my love for the Cats!

Lane’s advice

Do not be in a hurry. Pharmacy school may seem like a long, hard battle. Some days it is.

But, on the whole, each semester is over before you know it. As I said about my undergraduate degree, the education that I am receiving right now is something that I could never put a price on. While I am certainly ready to be finished, I would not think of taking what I have now and running. Even if by some mystical sequence of events I was given an opportunity to graduate now, I would not want to miss my last 2 years at the college. The education that one receives at the U.K. College of Pharmacy is not just about memorizing a host of drugs and spilling that information back out on a test. It is about learning to think in a logical and analytical manner and learning what it means to take care of people.

Plans following graduation

At this point I am drawn to the pharmaceutical industry, where I am hoping to find a career that will utilize not only my pharmacy degree, but also my Master’s in Business Administration that I am working to complete at the time of my graduation from the Pharm. D. program. I am certainly not sure which area of the industry I would like to land in, but somehow things always seem to eventually work themselves out.