About 50 NDSU pharmacy and nursing students will travel to the North Dakota State Capitol on Thursday, Feb. 14, to learn about the legislative process, offer blood pressure screenings to legislators and talk with legislators about heart health and other public health topics.

They will join North Dakota pharmacists and pharmacist technicians for Pharmacy Legislative Day sponsored by the North Dakota Pharmacists Association.

“It is a great learning experience for our students, where they learn about the legislative process and how a bill is introduced and passed,” said Charles Peterson, dean of the College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Sciences. “They have an opportunity to meet and interact with their local legislators.”

The experience is an important part of students’ pharmacy and nursing education, said Wanda Roden, director of Advanced Experiential Education Programs in the College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Sciences. “As future health care providers, students need to understand the legislative process and be able to communicate effectively with lawmakers on bills that affect patients and health care in the state,” she said. 

Students will visit with legislators about public health topics, such as mail order medications, drug shortages and health issues in the North Dakota oil patch. Several students will display public health posters they presented at a recent seminar for North Dakota pharmacists and health care providers. 

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.