HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 23, 2018 – A High Point University student has received a scholarship to pursue his dream of owning his own pharmacy.
HPU’s Lane Bell is this year’s J M Smith Foundation Independent Community Pharmacists Scholarship recipient. Bell is the second recipient to receive the scholarship and is an incoming pharmacy student in the Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy. The scholarship was established in 2015 to provide financial assistance for HPU pharmacy students who have an interest in pursuing a career in community independent pharmacy. The scholarship is awarded annually.
In Bell’s application to HPU’s School of Pharmacy, he wrote, “Learning how chemicals react from the world around us amazed me. Taking more chemistry and biology classes only strengthened my interest in learning more about how bodily processes work, how those processes can go wrong and how we attempt to fix those problems with medications.”
Bell is from Kings Mountain, North Carolina. The recipients of the scholarship are chosen by the dean of the School of Pharmacy.
“Lane is very well prepared academically for the rigors of pharmacy school,” says Dr. Ronald Ragan, dean of pharmacy. “He has excelled in his pre-pharmacy coursework and scored near the top on the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT). In his admission interview, he demonstrated excellent communication skills and a valuable insight into pharmacy.”
The J M Smith Corporation started out as a small community pharmacy in Asheville, North Carolina in 1925. From there, the owner, James M. Smith, Sr. opened multiple drugstores. Today, the company has grown to operate business units that supply healthcare and distribution services and technology to pharmacies, institutions, government agencies and businesses across the U.S. While the corporation has expanded, it has remained focused on the original tenets – bringing value and service to the customer.