Pharmacy Student from Cedarville Volunteers During Pandemic

Samantha Treinish, a Cedarville University third-year professional pharmacy student from Granville, Ohio, volunteered at Mission Addiction in Dayton, Ohio, remotely during the nationwide shutdown.

Mission Addiction is a nonprofit organization that seeks to serve patients with various addictions. It provides complete health care, including education and counseling, to all of its patients.

“Volunteering at Mission Addiction provided me the opportunity to think outside of the box and look for additional nontraditional roles that I could fill as a student and also in my future career as a pharmacist,” said Treinish.

Treinish contributed mainly to the educational side of Mission Addiction. She wrote a blog about the misconceptions of drug take-back days. She also compiled information on medications, including dosages, contraindications and side effects, for different mood disorders, like obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression insomnia, that Mission Addiction can use to counsel patients on which drugs would be best for them.

“My favorite part of this experience was writing the blog,” said Treinish. “I was able to talk about my own experiences with drug-take back days and provide educational material on the proper way to dispose of medications. I really enjoyed being able to provide my opinion and help clear up some misconceptions.”

Treinish has helped with six different drug take-back days coordinated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and local law enforcement, including the most recent one on October 24.

Four other Cedarville students also volunteered at Mission Addiction over the summer months: Lauren Wilson, a third-year professional pharmacy student from Versaille, Ohio; Paige Anderson, a third-year professional pharmacy student from Dayton, Ohio; Jennifer Voudris, a third-professional pharmacy student from Fairborn, Ohio; and Sean Hong, a third-year professional pharmacy student from Xenia, Ohio.