March 22, 2019 | Sheila Foran/School of Pharmacy

Youna Kang Earns 2019 Student Service Award for Dedication to Underserved

Delivering health care to remote villages teaches this pharmacy student valuable lessons.

Youna Kang '20 (Pharm.D.) is the recipient of the 2019 Student Service Award.

Youna Kang '20 (Pharm.D.) is the recipient of the 2019 Student Service Award. (Sheila Foran/UConn Photo)

Youna Kang ’20 (Pharm.D.) is this year’s recipient of the 2019 UConn School of Pharmacy Student Service Award. This honor is given annually to a student or student group for their commitment to health care related services and engagement outside of regularly scheduled service learning hours.

A resident of Woodbridge, Conn., Kang went on her first church-sponsored mission trip to Bolivia when she was just 16. She says, “I spoke a little Spanish and the teenagers in the community we visited spoke a little English. Together we got by and were able to communicate. That experience really opened my eyes and made me want to do more.”

Health Clinic in Mexico
Each day between 100-150 people were seen at the health clinics in Mexico where Youna Kang assisted the medical team. (Photo courtesy of Youna Kang)

That first trip was not only culturally enlightening, it introduced Kang to the important role that pharmacists and other medical personnel play in delivering health care to isolated, rural communities.

This past August, she accompanied fellow members of the New Haven Korean Church on another medical mission, this time to Yucatan, Mexico. On that journey, she filled the role of pharmacist for a mobile clinic that visited four different rural towns, and where approximately 100-150 patients per day were helped by the team.

Kang says that she worked closely with physicians in choosing the right therapy given a limited choice of medications available. She also counseled the patients in Spanish to assure they would take the medications as prescribed.

Among her other activities, Kang is a member of the Student College of Clinical Pharmacy (SCCP) where she serves as secretary. SCCP teams with members of the Student Nurses Association to co-host a  blood pressure clinic in the Student Union each semester. She has also attended two South Park Clinics in Hartford where she has worked with fellow UConn School of Pharmacy and School of Medicine students gathering pertinent patient information and developing treatment options.  She is also a Pharmacy Ambassador and has represented the school at various programs and events, including conducting a pre-college summer program and helping with orientation of P-1 pharmacy students.

“Youna Kang is an exemplary student here at the School of Pharmacy, ” said Phil Hritcko, associate dean for admissions and student affairs. “She is a bright, team player, compassionate and articulate,  a terrific role model for her peers and for the prospective students that she works with.”

Following completion of her Pharm.D., Kang hopes to complete a residency on her way to becoming a clinical pharmacist.