The Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy presented Callyn Parker ’17 with the Gregory Outstanding Graduate Award.
The award recognizes a graduate in the top 10 percent of the class who has demonstrated a continual devotion to faith and the desire to integrate faith into the practice of pharmacy. It comes with a check for $10,000 and the expectation that the recipient will continue to practice pharmacy for the glory of God.
Parker will complete a post-graduate residency at Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia, Tennessee, this summer.
“As I move into my professional career as a pharmacist, I find it essential to continue to share my faith with my patients and colleagues,” Parker wrote in an essay. “I believe that physical healing through medicine opens the door for a deeper spiritual healing that we all desire. Throughout my life, I want to be a part of sharing my faith and the love of God with everyone I encounter.”
Parker, of Medford, New Jersey, earned her bachelor’s degree in medicinal and biological chemistry from PBA in 2017.
Typically, a member of the Gregory family presents the recipient with the award during the pharmacy hooding ceremony. Parker learned she was selected via a Zoom call, and the news was subsequently announced to GSOP students and faculty. There are 71 pharmacists in this year’s graduating class, said Dr. Dana Strachan, associate dean for academics and professor of pharmacy practice.
With the Gregory Center for Medical Missions, Parker participated in organizing, planning and executing clinics in the rural Dominican Republic. Locally, she provided care for indigent populations with the Health Care District of Palm Beach County. She volunteered to help with education booths at GSOP’s annual health fairs and to give vaccines with Walgreens.
She has served as a Sunday School teacher for middle school children and coached youth cheerleading camp for her church, Community of Hope. She also taught health-related topics to inner-city elementary school children for Urban Youth Impact’s outreach program.
Parker is a member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the Florida Society of Health-System Pharmacists. She has served as vice president of Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International and secretary of PBA’s chapter of the Rho Chi national pharmacy honor society. She is a GSOP delegate and a voting member of the school’s Curriculum and Assessment Committee. As an admissions volunteer, she interviewed candidates for entry into the pharmacy program.
She is the lead author on two published research papers, including one in “Christianity and Pharmacy” on the benefit of short-term missions. She also co-presented a poster on implementing a pharmacogenomics program in a mental health facility. The presentation was at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Conference last year.
Additionally, Parker is the oboe and English horn principal chair in the University’s Symphony and Symphonic Band.
Additional GSOP Award Recipients:
- American History of Pharmacy Award – Nicole Maksutovic
- APhA – ASP Senior Recognition Award – Brittany Snider
- ASHP Senior Recognition Award – Mackenzie O’Leary
- GSOP Mission Service Award – Kayla Oyler
- GSOP Servant Leader Award – Ian Clarke
- Merck Graduate Award – Mehrnoush Mohammadpour & Giselle Kho
- Mylan Pharmaceutical Excellence in Pharmacy – Brenden Mahmood
- Phi Lambda Sigma Leadership Chapter Senior Award – Sarah Gobrial
- Rho Chi Academic Achievement Award – Austin Golia
- Wolters Kluwer Award – Austin Golia
