Phi Delta Chi and Greek Life in Pharmacy School

Hello again everyone!

The Spring semester is now in full swing and it’s hard to believe we’re a whole month into school already. This semester, while classes are surely keeping me busy, it’s all the extra things outside of the classroom that are really keeping my schedule jam packed. This week, I would like to give you a look into my personal favorite student organization, Phi Delta Chi, and talk about greek life in Pharmacy School as a whole. Whether you were/are in a Greek organization or undergrad, Greek Life in pharmacy school can be a great way to make friends and form lifelong professional connections too.

 

What is Greek Life in pharmacy school like?

Greek Life is very different in pharmacy school than in undergrad. For starters, we don’t have social fraternities or sororities and all of our organizations, at least at OSU, are coed. At OSU we have four greek organizations – Phi Delta Chi, Kappa Psi, Phi Lambda Sigma, and Rho Chi.

Phi Delta Chi and Kappa Psi are both professional pharmacy fraternities. Despite the name “fraternity” anyone can join either of these organizations after a candidacy process. To find out more about Kappa Psi check out the blog post all about it here. Being professional fraternities, both of these organizations balance professional events and social functions. For example you won’t find the stereotypical fraternity party hosted by Phi Delta Chi, but instead might find a networking event with a more social event afterwards.

Phi Lambda Sigma and Rho Chi are both greek honor societies. Focused on leadership and scholarship respectively, these two organizations are invitation only.

Phi Delta Chi

Phi Delta Chi (PDC) is the oldest professional pharmacy fraternity in the country. We first came to OSU in 1908 but were inactive for a few years and just came back in 2016. Being one of the newer student organizations in the college means we’re still on the smaller side but growing quickly. I am currently serving as the Worthy Chief Counselor (our formal term for president) of the Xi Chapter and couldn’t be more excited about what our chapter is doing and what we have planned.

I love PDC because of all the amazing experiences I’ve been able to have through it. One of our core values is building purpose-driven leaders. This past summer, me and three other OSU Pharmacy students joined hundreds of brothers from all over the country in Virginia Beach for our biannual Leadership Development Seminar (LDS). At LDS, not only did we learn a lot about how to be better leaders from brothers that are strong leaders in the field of pharmacy, including the past National President of APhA, but we got to meet and network with Brothers from all across the country. Even now, almost a year later, I still keep in regular contact with friends I met there that are in school in California, Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, and beyond. The network of brothers is amazing to have. I know that if I ever need a place to crash for a residency interview or tips about an area, I have Brothers I can count on.

At OSU, the Xi Chapter of PDC does all sorts of activities throughout the year. From bake sales to raise money for St. Jude to rock climbing trips to student panels to our annual Chapter Retreat in Hocking Hills, we’re always getting closer as a chapter. Our motto in PDC is “Brothers for Life” and I really do feel that the connections I’m making with brothers both at OSU and other chapters are connections that will last for life.

I hope this gives you an idea of what Greek Life in pharmacy school and more specifically Phi Delta Chi is like. As always if you have any questions just drop a comment below!

Me and part of my PDC greek family at our Autumn 2018 Initiation

2 thoughts on “Phi Delta Chi and Greek Life in Pharmacy School

  1. We reactivated Phi Delta Chi at OSU back in 1976. I graduated in 78 & we were still up and running then. In 78 we had 7 members.

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