National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA)

The student chapter of NCPA is an organization established to promote community pharmacy. It stands for those interested in independent retail pharmacy. NCPA represents many different specialties within pharmacy such as compounding, long term care consulting, home infusion, and disease state management in areas like diabetes and respiratory care. The organization is also very active in political issues that face community pharmacists.

Our chapter often sponsors speakers to come and raise our awareness of what direction independent pharmacy is headed. In the past, we have had visitors from the National NCPA headquarters, compounding pharmacists, and Campbell graduates who now practice in their own community pharmacies. NCPA has coordinated blood pressure screenings and patient counseling clinics with independent pharmacy owners. This is one way members can experience pharmaceutical care in a retail setting. Other community service projects have been Hurricane Mitch relief donations, canned food drives, sponsoring families at Thanksgiving, and many others throughout the past. Annually, we have two large fund raising drives: selling Halloween candy bags and Valentine’s Day candy bags.

Opportunities in NCPA are endless. Each year, fifteen scholarships from the national association are offered to pharmacy students from each pharmacy school in the nation. Campbell is proud to have had students receive this award in the past. There is a yearly mid-year meeting of NCPA where students are encouraged to network with other students and potential employers. In addition, NCPA hosts student interns at its national headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.