Advocating for Health Literacy

Pharm.D. Student Dahlia Uresti Improves Outcomes Through Diabetes Awareness and Bilingual Communication

Just as Pharm.D. student Dahlia Uresti was ready to begin her undergraduate journey, Hurricane Harvey flooded her family home, threatening to derail her plans. But despite the setback, Uresti never lost sight of her dream to pursue a career in pharmacy.

Uresti developed an interest in the medical field as a child, and her passion deepened after witnessing both of her parents take different medications for their type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

"Growing up, I didn’t know what diabetes was," Uresti said. "I just knew that my parents had it and were taking a lot of medications. I wondered, 'Why are they taking those? How can they take multiple different ones together? What other ones can’t they take?'"

Her interest in medicine and its effects grew stronger during high school when taking advanced chemistry, which introduced her to drug components and their molecular structures. This experience solidified Uresti’s decision to pursue pharmacy school.

After a few months spent helping her parents rebuild their home, Uresti resumed her studies, first at a local community college before transferring to the University of Houston (UH) to study biochemistry.

Wanting to stay close to her family, Uresti chose to apply to pharmacy schools in Texas. It was when her close friend and UH College of Pharmacy (UHCOP) alumna, Greissy Jerezano, shared more about the program that Uresti’s heart settled on following her friend’s path.

"She told me so much about UH and how those professors care about you and your mental health, but they also care about how you grow as a student leading towards graduation," Uresti said. "That’s what I was looking for; my heart gravitated to it."

As a P2 student, Uresti was drawn to several specialties during her hospital rotations, but geriatrics stood out to her the most.

"I think the geriatric population is such a crucial group of people that we need to watch out for," Uresti said.

One memorable interaction was with a geriatric patient who was nervous about a new medication prescribed by her doctor. Uresti reassured her, explaining there was no need to be scared, and helped put her at ease. The patient’s simple two-word phrase left a lasting impact on Uresti.

"Just her saying, 'Thank you,' really struck me," Uresti said. "From that day forward, when other geriatric patients thanked me and shared how I positively impacted them, it made me feel happy."

Uresti has embraced her college experience by taking on several leadership roles, including serving as the Secretary of the UHCOP American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP), Vice President of the Hispanic Pharmacy Student Association (HPSA), Junior Chair of the American Pharmacist Association-Academy of Student Pharmacist (APhA-ASP) Operation Diabetes, Senior Leadership Chair of Phi Delta Chi (PDC), and former Secretary Committee Chair of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Houston Chapter.

A major factor that encouraged Uresti to apply to APhA-ASP was her parents’ experience with diabetes, especially after she learned that Operation Diabetes was among the national organization’s initiatives.

"Joining the organization and being part of the committee, I’m able to learn more about the disease state," Uresti said. "I wanted to educate others about diabetes, how it can be prevented and, if it can’t, the many different ways to manage it."

Additionally, her active involvement in HPSA has further fueled her passion for improving Spanish language use within the health care system.

"I think being bilingual is crucial in health care, no matter what language you speak," Uresti said.

As a first-generation Hispanic, Uresti is particularly driven to bridge communication gaps, especially after witnessing health care workers struggle to communicate with patients who had limited English proficiency during her hospital rotations.

"It’s important for people to learn certain words in different languages so they can help a wide variety of patients," Uresti said. "I tell people, 'You don’t have to be fluent, you don’t have to be a perfect Spanish speaker, but if you learn certain words, you can really impact a patient. And that’s how trust is built.'"

As Uresti continues to develop as both a student and a leader, she is dedicated to fostering an environment where other students can thrive and feel supported. Her passion for empowering peers is evident in her approach to leadership, where she strives to create an environment that fosters growth and confidence.

"My role as being a leader in different organizations is to build bridges among my peers so they can feel confident in speaking, networking and improving connections with each other throughout their years as pharmacy students and even after graduation," Uresti said.

- Lauren Nguyen