The Influence of an Academic Pharmacy Mentorship Program on Mentees’ Commitment to Pursue an Academic Career

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Walmart Scholars Program on mentees’ attitudes towards and decision to pursue a career in academia. Upon completion of the AACP Walmart* Scholars Program, wherein mentor-mentee pairs attend the AACP Annual Meeting to learn about academic pharmacy careers, mentees wrote essays evaluating the program. Their views on academic pharmacy careers were analyzed for themes in the evaluations. Of the mentees who addressed the impact of the program on their perspectives on a career in academic pharmacy, over half stated the program positively influenced pursuit of such a career. This reinforces the importance of mentorship for those interested in or new to academic pharmacy