From Bhangra to the Pharmacy Clinic with Bhoomi Parikh
Balancing rigorous pharmacy studies with Bhangra dance, Bhoomi Parikh embraces her culture and personal passions
Story by Sarah Clark | Photo courtesy of Bhoomi Parikh | Published December 3, 2024
Bhoomi Parikh, a fourth-year PharmD student, knew early on she wanted to go into pharmacy. Growing up, Bhoomi lived in the same household as her grandmother and accompanied her to many appointments, where her interest in healthcare began.
Later, in high school, Bhoomi shadowed a pharmacist for one month, which solidified her interest in pharmacy and guided her studies at the University of Minnesota. There, she majored in biochemistry before eventually moving to North Carolina.
Pharmacy, however, is only one part of Bhoomi’s identity – she is also a talented dancer.
Dancing has always been a part of Bhoomi’s life. For her, it was a great way to connect with her culture. While she participated in many different styles of Indian dance at various cultural festivals, the dance style that she has most recently focused on is Bhangra, an energetic and upbeat traditional folk dance from the Punjab region of India.
She didn’t want this piece of her culture to get lost, especially since she enjoyed being on the dance team at her undergrad, so she joined the UNC dance team, Bhangra Elite. With practice from 8pm-10pm, on top of the rigorous curriculum at the School, she was forced to hone her time management skills. This helped her create a balance in her life between her studies and personal passions. “I was just motivated because it brought me so much joy and helped me de-stress from pharmacy school that, to me, it was worth it to do the extra work to get things done,” says Bhoomi. “It’s worth it to cut out time for things that you care about.”
Bhoomi made close connections to her teammates, especially when they got to travel together to competitions around the country. Together, they piled into hotel rooms in Tennessee, Ohio, and Washington DC, and prepared to compete with talented dancers from across the country. They didn’t come home empty-handed, either, notably winning first place at the 2022 Nachde Nashville, the biggest collegiate bhangra competition in the south. Trophies aside, Bhoomi reflects on the joy that being on the team brought her. “It taught me the value of doing things for yourself, and doing things that you enjoy,” she shares.
Dance also provided Bhoomi with the opportunity to further develop her leadership skills, which she transferred to her time at the Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC). SHAC is a health clinic run by UNC students of various disciplines that provides free health care services to underserved populations in and around Chapel Hill. At SHAC, Bhoomi served as the Pharmacy Clinic Coordinator and trained many of the new student pharmacy volunteers that joined. Her experience at SHAC has allowed Bhoomi to gain experience interacting with patients as well as collaborating with UNC students from different disciplines.
Throughout Bhoomi’s time at the School, her interest in Infectious Disease and Emergency Medicine really took root. What initially attracted Bhoomi to these fields is the fast-paced environment and day-to-day variability. “I really like the immediate, critical thinking you have to do with those [fields]…a lot of it is critical thinking based off the information presented in front of you instead of just following an algorithm. So, to me, I really enjoyed that,” shares Bhoomi.
Now in her final year, her rotations have taken her to Charlotte where she is part of the Charlotte Scholars program. In this program, Bhoomi leads formal presentations to her peers and colleagues and is conducting a medication use evaluation research project, which she is preparing to present at the 2024 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition.
While Bhoomi has many options and paths in front of her as she prepares for post-graduate life, she knows that the connections she formed as a Tar Heel and Bhangra Elite dancer will stay with her forever.