Rachel Peña
University of Florida College of Pharmacy
Rachel Peña is a 3rd year pharmacy student at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. Prior to pharmacy school, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences.
During her time as a student pharmacist, Rachel has been actively involved in her local American Pharmacist Association chapter in Orlando, Florida where she served as a Public Relations Committee member from 2021-2022, Communications Vice President from 2022-2023, and Chair for Operation Infection Prevention in 2023-2024. She also served as President-Elect of the college's Pediatric Pharmacist organization, Pediagator, from 2022-2023 and is serving as President from 2023-2024. She has also been involved in the Inter-Professional Healthcare Coalition as Secretary from 2022-2023 and Vice President in 2023-2024, while also serving as the Pharmacy Liaison for Knights Clinic, a student ran interdisciplinary clinic through IPHC. Rachel is also a member of Phi Lambda Sigma.
At her university, Rachel also coordinated a webinar titled "Deaf Culture and Healthcare" where PharmD students, faculty, staff, post-doctoral and graduate students of UF College of Pharmacy learned more about the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. The guest speaker is a member of the Deaf community herself and an American Sign Language Professor at the University of Florida. Guests learned how to bridge gaps in communication with this underrepresented patient population without having to be fluent in ASL. The webinar was co-hosted with the college's Office of Accessibility, Belonging, and Community Health. Rachel's current interests include pediatrics and infectious diseases.