As most high school seniors in the Charleston area are applying for their undergraduate degree in college, one of our own senior students at magnet has just recently been admitted into the Doctorate of Pharmacy program at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Kira Adkins has taken college credits throughout her high school career through the Trident Technical College early admission program that, along with her AP classes at magnet, have added up to 66 college credit hours which meets the requirement needed to apply to MUSC’s program. As one of the youngest students in the program, at age 17, Kira will start next year in 2019. Her incredible accomplishments have also gotten her interviews in local newspapers and on local television stations.

1.What are your career goals?

“I definitely want to be a pharmacist. However, I haven’t decided what kind of pharmacist. The field is so vast. Most people only think of pharmacists (like at CVS or Walgreens) or hospital pharmacists but it goes beyond that”

2. What college classes did you take during high school that allowed you to get into pharmacy school?

“I had to take many, but I’ll list a few: Public Speaking, Anatomy, Physiology I and II, Calculus, Chemistry I and II, Intermediate Spanish, Macroeconomics, etc.”

3. What convinced you to do this instead of applying for an undergraduate degree first? 

“I completed the undergrad portion in high school simply because I knew it was manageable. Typically people do at least 2 years of completing their prerequisite classes, so I originally planned to just knock off a year. Once I got started I realized that I could just knock off 2 years so that’s what I did.”

4. Why did you choose to take all honors classes senior year?

“I am taking all honors because I do not need AP classes. I have already taken four so I have met the requirement for an AMHS diploma. People typically take APs for the college credits, but by the time the score came out in July 2018 it would have been too late for the pharmacy application (due September 2017). If I took APs this year it wouldn’t have mattered for my pharmacy application. So I didn’t take any.”

5. Does your thesis topic relate to pharmacy and what do you want to do as a career eventually?

My thesis was on oxycodone use and abuse among adults, so it was very related to pharmacy. It addressed the rising opioid epidemic. Hopefully I can continue my studies in pharmacy school. Right now, I’m just completing scholarship applications to get as much aid as possible.”

We are very proud of you, Kira! Keep up the good work in Pharmacy school and good luck!