The journey of Renee Mayo

MUSC College of Pharmacy Early Assurance Program’s first student

If a Hollywood producer cast Renee Mayo as the first student in a movie about the MUSC College of Pharmacy Early Assurance Program (EAP), no one would believe it. Too contrived. 

Her story is a checklist of the narrative toolbox: 

• Dramatic inciting event.
• An obstacle to overcome.
• Heroic self-exploration.
• An emotional connection to MUSC.
• Ends with a feel-good triumph.

At age 9, she started experiencing rapid heart rhythms. By the fifth grade, she had been diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia. The attacks accelerated her heart to more than 200 beats per minute. After surgery was determined to be the best option, she headed from Columbia to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston.

“On the way down from Columbia to Charleston, I was a nervous wreck in the back seat of my parent's car for the two-hour drive,” Mayo said. “Once we got there and I started talking to the nurses and doctors, all that fear and anxiety went away: I knew I was in great hands.”

She also knew she wanted to pursue a career in health care. As she continued her studies, her academic success in math and science made that dream realistic. After looking into a number of health care fields, she decided pharmacy was the right choice.

“I am fascinated by medications and the process that goes into creating them,” said the Blythewood high School senior, who will enroll at the College of Charleston this fall to begin her pharmacy prerequisites. “I also am captivated by the research that a pharmacist does for each of their patients to make sure their medication is safe and effective.”

Given her career research, determination, achievement, and connection to MUSC, the College’s Early Assurance Program had a natural appeal. Her acceptance into the EAP gives her conditional acceptance to the MUSC Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) program; Her seat is reserved pending successful completion of college-level prerequisite courses at any accredited college or university, and maintenance of certain academic and preparatory criteria.

For Mayo, it provides a focus to the next two years of undergraduate work and the assurance of knowing in advance what – and where – she will be after that. Which can be helpful to a courageous young woman who has gone from worrying about whether she had a future to worrying about how to make the most of it.  

“In choosing my career, I really wanted a profession that I could create relationships with other people,” she said. “I appreciate that there is room for flexibility and that obtaining your Pharm.D. opens many doors for you instead of committing to one specific field. If I decide later down the road I want to focus on one aspect of pharmacy, I am able to change my area of expertise.

“No matter what field of pharmacy you are in, you are able to see the progression of your patient, which is a quality of a career that is very important to me because of how rewarding it is to see your patient improve.”