February 25, 2025
overcast clouds Clouds 37 °F

Brian Kam

The 3+4 student believes in volunteerism

3 minute read

For someone who didn’t originally love science, Brian Kam has come a long way.

The 3+4 student from Yonkers, N.Y., found his way to science while still in high school after joining the science scholars research program in his sophomore year. “The work ‘on the bench’ drove my passion,” he said. And, coupled with his desire to work in healthcare, he came to Binghamton University to earn a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences.

Finding his way to pharmacy took another hands-on experience, when, as a sophomore at Binghamton, he volunteered at UHS Wilson Medical Center. “Then I really knew pharmacy was what I wanted to do,” he said.

Kam, who will earn that bachelor’s degree in May 2019, will continue his PharmD studies for an additional three years.

Volunteerism helped spark his desire to pursue his Doctor of Pharmacy degree, but he went one step further and saw an opportunity to connect with other students of like minds. “I had the idea to start a pre-pharmacy association on campus but needed to recruit people,” he said. “Toward the end of my sophomore year, I met three others interested in founding the organization with me, so we got it chartered [by the Student Association] the first semester of my junior year.

“We’ve held a lot of events,” Kam added. “The last one was when last year’s P1 students talked with with pre-pharmacy students and when Leon Cosler spoke to us about career opportunities. We also had a social event where we watched a comedy about pharmacists.”

Kam is currently volunteering at the Southern Tier AIDS program and also serving on the School of Pharmacy’s Assessment and Evaluation Committee, evaluating the curriculum rubrics. “The goal of the committee is quality improvement and I’m learning a lot,” he said. “There are usually two students on the school-wide committees. When Dr. Ward sent out an email asking for interested students, I saw it as a great opportunity to get involved.

“It’s a good learning experience, so I jumped at the chance,” he said. “It’s a good idea to always improve yourself and do things that are challenging. At the end of the day you want to learn as much as you can inside and outside the classroom.”

Overall, the School of Pharmacy is the right fit for Kam.

“I really enjoy this school in particular because it’s generally a smaller class size so you get a lot more attention and the faculty is adamant about knowing the students individually,” Kam said. “There are also a lot of opportunities students can take, for example the research track was recently announced so students can pursue more research on the side and that’s something I’m interested in.”

Right now he’s unsure which direction his PharmD degree will take him, but he plans to gain more exposure to as much as he can. For example, he’s been reaching out to one pharmacist who runs an independent pharmacy and does compounding and plans to shadow him for a day. “Clinical seems interesting, but I don’t want to narrow my choices and still have a lot to learn,” he said.

For now, he’s staying involved in as much as he can.

“I like the co-curriculars,” he said. “I was at the flu clinic at Sarah Jane Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church and shadowed a pharmacist and helped people fil out forms.

“Some couldn’t read or write,” he said. “It’s up to the student if they want to continue volunteering, so now I’m also doing the syringe exchange program and then reception work at the Riverside location. And I haven’t started yet, but am going to volunteer at the food pantry as well.

“It’s good to give back to the community,” Kam said. “Growing up, I was given everything and some people are not as fortunate as me, so it’s good to give back when you can.”

Posted in: