A Global Pharmacy Gift

For VCU School of Pharmacy graduate Arzu F. Moosvi, Pharm.D., going abroad during pharmacy school made a profound impact on her career, her life and her view of the field of pharmacy.

“It’s always good to travel,” said Dr. Moosvi, who earned her Pharm.D. in 2020. “It opens your mind; it expands your horizons in a very different scenario, and that professional expansion continues to benefit those around you after the fact.”

Dr. Moosvi, who also earned her undergraduate degree at VCU, attended the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) World Congress as a student in 2019 and again after graduating.

“The energy at a meeting like this is different from what I’ve experienced in the U.S. You are meeting pharmacists from all around the globe — people are so welcoming and willing to get to know you,” Dr. Moosvi said. “This conference helps you learn how pharmacy abroad is practiced and how people are enhancing the level of pharmacy in their country, which was a big deal for me as a student, because I only knew pharmacy from a U.S. context.”

Inspired by her experiences, she decided to give back by establishing the Arzu F. Moosvi Global Medicine Travel Award, which will allow future students to benefit from similar opportunities.

The opportunity to go abroad as part of her educational experience deepened Dr. Moosvi's already strong resolve to pursue a career focused on global health, particularly in Pakistan, her family’s country of origin. Prior to pharmacy school, she volunteered with one of Pakistan’s largest hospital systems, counseling patients about medications. She credits her faculty mentor David Holdford, Ph.D., with encouraging her to attend the world congress and to find funding to enable her travel to the conference.

Today, Dr. Moosvi works as a nonprofit clinical pharmacist for UMMA Health in Los Angeles, and she credits the experiences she had abroad with helping build long-term relationships with patients from various backgrounds. From 2020 to 2021, she also served as a pharmacist in Karachi with doctHERS, a network of clinicians providing Pakistani women with access to better health care. She is currently working to open a nonprofit in Pakistan and credits her international engagement and interaction with people of different cultures with helping her become a better pharmacist.

“My goal is to dive deep into their lives and understand more fully how I can make a difference,” said Dr. Moosvi, who was honored by VCU in 2023 as one of 10 Under 10 alumni stars. “Those small moments and gestures can lead to changes that have a big impact.”

If you would like to support students at the VCU School of Pharmacy, please contact Louie Correa, the school’s senior director of development, at 804-828-3016 or lacorrea@vcu.edu.