Pharmacy Students Talk Opioids With Local High Schoolers

One team of Cedarville pharmacy students spent the year speaking out about prescription drug abuse to middle and high school students through a program called GenerationRx.

The group of Cedarville University students will give its final presentation for the 2017-18 academic year at Cedar Cliff High School on April 30 and at Greeneview High School on May 3.

Generation

Rx is led by co-chairs Stephanie Wu and Megan Alt, both first-year students in Cedarville’s Doctor of Pharmacy program. It includes 20 other students from Cedarville’s pre-pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy programs. Students presented in a variety of locations throughout the year, from middle schools and high schools to detention and rehabilitation centers. Many of these events are coordinated through a partnership with H.O.P.E. Ministries, an organization that supports and trains at-risk youth in the Miami Valley area. Through these presentations, students share not only facts and statistics, but also videos and testimonies from people whose lives have been impacted by the consequences of opioid abuse.

“My goal for these kids is that they can see through these stories and through the care we have as an organization that there is so much beyond the drug,” said Wu. “There is hope, there is something beyond the addiction. And I so hope that these kids can see that.”

For Wu, the value of Generation Rx and educating younger students about drugs is personal. After a friend died of a drug overdose, Wu became committed to helping prevent the same thing from happening in the lives of others.

“Prescription drug abuse has always resonated with me because so many people will abuse drugs for different reasons,” said Wu. “If my friend had been educated at a young age and found people like Generation Rx who talk about hope, maybe there would have been a different outlet for her pain.”

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 3,963 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.