Chosen for Innovators
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 23, 2017 5:50 AM
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William Jones Jr., a rising senior at Charles B. Aycock High School, participated in the Young Innovators Program through UNC-Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy this summer. He was one of 24 high school students chosen for the eight-week internship. His presentation was on "Optimizing the Rural Healthcare Experience to Increase Access to Care for Rural Communities."
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William Jones Jr.
A Charles B. Aycock High School senior participated in an eight-week summer internship program through the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at UNC-Chapel Hill.
William Jones Jr. was one of 24 students chosen from 100 applicants -- and the only one from Wayne County -- for the Young Innovators Program. High school students were given an opportunity to do research in pharmaceutical science and related fields.
Jones said he had been looking for an internship program for the summer and learned about this one from his brother, a third-year pharmacy student at UNC.
In addition to writing an essay as part of the application process, interns were required to complete a project that could potentially improve health care access in rural communities. Each student conducted research and collaborated with faculty members and mentor and did a presentation at the conclusion of the summer program.
"The project I did was identifying problems in rural health care and solutions," he said, explaining that it was entitled, "Optimizing the Rural Healthcare Experience to Increase Access to Care for Rural Communities."
He said he discovered some of the most prevalent obstacles included lack of transportation and being uninsured.
One solution he suggested in his presentation included telemedicine -- when doctors and patients communicate with each other through technology.
"I also got a chance to go through Durham County Health Department, which has launched a program that provides transportation for people who don't have reliable sources for it (transportation)," he said.
Jones called the Young Innovators Program a great experience.
"I wanted to study this because it's something I can relate to," he said. "I never knew how rural health care worked."
The 17-year-old said he has not decided what career direction he might pursue following high school, but the summer opportunity definitely made him start thinking about other options.
"Since I have been doing this internship, I'm a little more interested in pharmacy school," he said. "Over this year I plan on testing the waters.
"It was a great opportunity, great experience, a lot of exposure to meet a lot of people. It's a very good steppingstone for someone leaving high school."