Touro College of Pharmacy student receives award for public health education

NEW YORK — The U.S. Public Health Service has awarded a Touro College of Pharmacy student for his efforts to educate the public about health care.

The college announced Tuesday that the USPHS had given its "Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Practice Award" to third-year doctor of pharmacy student Steven Elrod. Elrod's work includes speaking to children in New York's Harlem neighborhood about health eating as part of a national campaign; visiting high school students in Staten Island to discuss the dangers of prescription drug abuse; and researching grocery circulars in a poor neighborhood to compare them with those in a wealthier neighborhood.

"There are a lot of [pharmacy] students who do a lot of great things," Elrod said, adding he was "very flattered" to receive the award. "I was enthralled … it was just a beautiful gesture, and I couldn't have appreciated it more."