This story is featured in the 2023 edition of the HPU Magazine.
In 2016, Dr. Jessica Fernandez arrived at High Point University as a member of the Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy’s inaugural class.
Today, she’s an example of where an HPU pharmacy degree can take you.
The VA (Veterans Affairs) clinic in Kernersville, North Carolina, has become the perfect place to combine her HPU education with a passion for helping others.
“I love my job,” says Fernandez, a clinical pharmacist practitioner in pain management. “These veterans sacrificed so much. Helping them is the least I can do.”
When veterans are referred to the VA clinic, Fernandez enjoys taking time to listen to each patient. Her work usually relates to treating pain caused by challenging injuries, and some days aren’t easy. But by listening to them and gaining their trust over time, Fernandez has seen the impact she can have.
“I’m dedicated to this clinic because continuity of care is important for the men and women who served,” says Fernandez, a Florida native. “At the VA, I can sit down with patients longer and focus on a particular problem more than other providers may be able to. I can give them individualized attention and build a relationship.”
After earning her psychology degree from a big state school, Fernandez knows how important it is to be in a place where you feel like the people genuinely care about you. That’s what brought her to HPU.
“I was used to being in classrooms with 200-500 students and never building a relationship with my professors,” she says. “When I met the faculty at HPU and saw how involved they were in student success, I knew it was the place for me.”
One of Fernandez’s favorite aspects of HPU’s education model is how the curriculum is uniquely structured. Experiential learning is a foundational element in the pharmacy school. Students learn basic sciences in the classroom alongside clinical practice outside the classroom throughout the year, rather than dedicated separate years for each.
“You get the full picture while learning,” says Fernandez.
Simulation labs with high-tech, lifelike mannequins prepare students to eventually begin their work in the community, where they provide vaccinations and wellness screenings.
“Within your first year, you start interacting and working with patients,” says Fernandez. “Having that experience early and learning how to build rapport with patients was crucial. It’s what I do every day in my job now.”
Fernandez and her peers were the first-ever graduates of HPU’s pharmacy school in the spring of 2020. And now, they’re showing the world what HPU pharmacy graduates can achieve.
“I love working with veterans,” Fernandez says. “I appreciate and respect everything they have done for this country. I always tell my patients that I have their back.”