Callahan Clark

Class of 2019, Twin Cities

Callahan Clark is currently pursuing her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. In 2015, she earned her Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota with a minor in Italian Studies. During her undergraduate career, Callahan helped found the Interprofessional Pre-Health Students, a student organization created to ensure that even as pre-health students, Minnesota undergraduates lead the trend towards collaborative, team-based care.

Born and raised in rural Minnesota, Callahan highly values community involvement and is acutely aware of the need to actively eliminate health disparities within our state. She is passionate about increasing access to healthcare for all, and is involved with the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic (PNC), a student-run clinic that employs an interprofessional team-based care model to provide free care to anyone who walks in the doors.

After noticing a community desire to increase health literacy, she kickstarted a partnership with a local Somali women’s circle to practice English, empowering women to be in control of their well being. In addition, she represents the PNC at the Backyard Initiative, the nation’s first and only community-lead commission on health. She loves volunteering at the Franklin Library, where she tutors K-12 students from the Phillips Neighborhood in various subjects with an emphasis on practicing English language skills.

At the College of Pharmacy, she identified a need to maximize student engagement in cultural competency coursework and pioneered a student-led effort to improve the delivery of the cultural competency material within the PharmD curriculum. A main focus of this work is to ensure members of the cultural communities represented are the primary voices leading these discussions.

As the Policy & Advocacy Liaison for the Minnesota Pharmacy Student Alliance, Callahan actively works to inspire student pharmacists to advocate at institutional, state, and national levels to expand a pharmacist’s scope of practice to improve patient care. She co-authored a policy entitled “Utilizing Pharmacists to Address the National Mental Health crisis” that was passed by APhA-ASP’s regional delegates and is currently up for consideration at the national level. Callahan also serves on the Pharmacy Advocacy Task Force, a collaborative effort between MPhA, MSHP, MCCP, and the College of Pharmacy to ensure that the Minnesota Pharmacy Practice Act grows with the ever-evolving role of the pharmacist.

Her desire to expand the practice starts with creating new opportunities for student pharmacists, so she jumped at the invitation to teach a workshop on utilizing student pharmacists to their full potential at the annual Society of Student Run Free Clinics Conference in Anaheim, CA. She is also involved with planning and organizing Minnesota Pharmacy Legislative day, an event encouraging pharmacists and student pharmacists to meet with their district legislators to promote the advancement of the pharmacy practice.

She is currently an inpatient pharmacy intern at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, where she is learning more about the role of a pharmacist in a clinical setting. So far, she is leaning towards a pharmacy career where she can combine extensive clinical knowledge with direct patient care, so she will likely pursue an ambulatory care residency and seek a setting where she can actively practice pharmaceutical care while interacting with patients face-to-face.

In her free time, Callahan enjoys exploring Minneapolis farmer’s markets and breweries. She loves attending local film festivals, practicing Italian, and is always in the midst of planning her next international adventure.