The Explorers
Walk along with us and explore the steps University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences students take on their journey to discovering their education, careers and themselves.
Creating Understanding
“Being able to be a part of a school that has such supportive faculty and professors has allowed me to use my talents and my passions to pursue creative projects and to inspire others through pharmacy in a different lens.”
Shay Roth
Meet Shay Roth, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. We spoke with her in fall 2023, as a fourth-year pharmacy student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, wrapping up her doctorate degree in pharmacy, the PharmD, with concentrations in global health and pharmacotherapy.
She became interested in health care as a child, when she was a patient at UPMC Children’s Hospital, getting care for hearing issues. She is now helping other children understand more about their health as the author and illustrator of a series of children’s books about pharmacy.
The First Step:
Independence
“Coming to Pitt, for me, was a huge change,” she recalled. “I had never been away from my family before. Learning that independence was a huge adjustment for me.”
When she started looking into careers, Roth said, “I had no idea what kinds of jobs there were for pharmacists.” She attended an early immersion event at Pitt, rotating through several stations that showcased opportunities in the field.
“Pharmacists are the most accessible health care providers,” she realized. She signed on for the 2+4 program, which entails completing two years of undergraduate work and then, in the junior year of college, starting four years of pharmacy school.
The Second Step:
Adaptability
“My first year of pharmacy school was during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were totally remote for that entire year,” Roth said. “I really didn’t have the opportunity to even meet my classmates until my second full year of pharmacy school. It was definitely challenging at times, but it taught me to be adaptive. And to make the best out of my surroundings.”
In her sophomore year, she was a resident assistant, which led to other leadership positions.
“I became one of the representatives from my class my first year of pharmacy school, and that’s a role that I’ve held throughout my fourth year in pharmacy school,” she said.
As a pharmacy student, she appreciated being able to make a difference in the pandemic by giving COVID-19 shots.
“Getting to help vaccinate firsthand was an experience that really helped drive that motivation to get more involved in public health,” she said.
The Third Step:
Creativity
“During my time at Pitt, I had a really unique opportunity to get involved in a project where I was able to help co-write, illustrate and publish three children’s books,” Roth said. “Being able to be a part of a school that has such supportive faculty and professors has allowed me to use my talents and my passions to pursue creative projects and to inspire others through pharmacy in a different lens.”
The idea of writing a children’s book on pharmacy started with her friend Jaccie Hisashima, a 2023 PharmD graduate.
In the summer of 2021, they wrote “All Aboard the RX Express,” to show children what a pharmacist can do. Soon one of their mentors, Randall Smith, senior associate dean of pharmacy, asked if they could write a book about childhood diabetes. While there are books about diabetes for children, Roth said, “there isn’t anything out there that shows how pharmacists can help manage diabetes in children.”
They got to work. In 2022, they wrote “Diabetes, Pharmacy and Me: Understanding Childhood Diabetes.”
“It was so rewarding, especially, after we published it, getting these messages from parents that read it to their kids, and their kid was finally able to understand it, their kid could see an illustration of how insulin was working within their body,” she said.
Their latest book, “Asthma, Pharmacy and Me: Understanding Asthma and How Pharmacists Can Help,” was published in 2023. They were able to fact-check with professors, including Amy Donihi for diabetes, Roberta Farrah for asthma, and Ashley Yarabinec, who served as a faculty advisor, to ensure that all the information was accurate.
All three books are now available in English and Spanish, thanks to translations by Carla Medina-Gil, a PharmD student in the class of 2026.
While Roth has no training in art, she always liked to doodle and decided to illustrate books using her iPad, Apple Pencil and the program Procreate.
“We wanted to really show a diverse array of characters because we wanted kids to look and see a pharmacist, someone in a white coat and say, ‘Hey, that looks like me, I can do that someday.’”
The Next Steps
After graduation, Roth plans to pursue a health system pharmacy administration and leadership residency, which combines her interest in clinical pharmacy with leadership and public health.
“I really don’t know, long term, what I’ll end up doing, but I think as long as it combines those three passions, I’ll be happy to do that,” she said.
About the School of Pharmacy
A global leader in pharmacy education, research, service, and professional development, the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy has educated the world’s finest pharmacists and scientists. Preparing innovators and making discoveries that solve complex medication-based problems of today and tomorrow.