Today, I get to speak to Dr. Mary Ngo who was one of the GoodRx Above and Beyond Pharmacy Award Winners. She won the Breakout Pharmacist which honors pharmacists who propel the profession forward through their early tenure work, community, or advocacy efforts. Dr. Mary Ngo is a new practitioner pharmacist who attended Chapman for both undergraduate and pharmacy graduate programs and completed her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2019. Currently, she works as a clinical staff pharmacist at South Coast Mission Pharmacy, an outpatient pharmacy at Mission Hospital Laguna Beach, serving many patients w ..read more

Some people have no idea what Pharmacists do. Maybe, that’s because pharmacists do so many things. Today’s guest, Derek Borkowski, is a pharmacist, software engineer, and the founder and CEO of Cosmas Health. Derek is also the creator of Pyrls - a popular new drug information website used by over 10,000 clinicians and students. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with his PharmD in 2018 and started working in community pharmacy until he fell in love with technology. From pharmacist to software engineer to founder, Derek shares his journey from leaving his community pharmacy job to pu ..read more

Zack is currently serving as a hematology/oncology medical science liaison (MSL) with Kyowa Kirin (primary focus in hematologic malignancies). His previous experience included supporting GSK Oncology in a similar liaison capacity. Prior to these field medical roles, Zack had a brief stint in medical writing with Vaniam Group (oncology-focused scientific communications).  Zack’s first role after pharmacy school came as a clinical content position where he supported and helped to manage the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Cancer Protocols. He was able to work alongside pathologists a ..read more

Many of us either are familiar with or a member of at least one of the professional pharmacy associations. Some of us were involved in the student chapters, some of us lean on them for continuing education credits, to attend conferences, or serve in some other capacity. Having been involved with a couple of organizations myself, I wondered what it’s like to work or have a career in associations as a pharmacist. It dawned on me when my close friend, Marissa, began her Executive Fellowship at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, or ASHP. Marissa Brooks, Pharm.D., M.B.A., is one of ..read more

Burnout. It’s a word we’ve all heard and we have likely experienced, especially in the last 2 years. It’s okay to say you’re burnt out. It’s okay to say you’re tired, you don’t like your job, or that you’re not happy.  I’ve been there and so many others have. Alex Barker is the Founder of The Happy PharmD. After his PharmD, he set out like most of us do to find a decent. After his residency, he worked as an ambulatory care pharmacist where he realized he didn’t love his job. That feeling of being stuck allowed him to channel a business on the side. The Happy PharmD was created to help oth ..read more

So if you’re interested in learning more about what global health means, the role pharmacists can play, or what a day in the life looks like, this episode is for you. Jeanine Abrons, PharmD, MS is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Student Pharmacist International Activities at the University of Iowa, College of Pharmacy. Abrons’ work with global underserved care extends to multiple countries, however, her primary work centers around partnerships in Dominica, collaborating with a local eco-based, social entrepreneur, the Ministry of Health, and a private pharmacy.  She also he ..read more

As Pharmacists, we’re all familiar with Medicaid and Medicare services to an extent. We’ve processed a claim through them before, have told patients about Open Enrollment, and hear about it quite regularly. However, what’s it like being a pharmacist for human services and health care programs.  Dr. Fatima Ali is the Senior Pharmacy Director of Medicaid Pharmacy Services at Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. She graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in May 2018 with her PharmD. Since then, Fatima has worked in the managed care setting. She completed ..read more

Content. I feel like that’s a buzzword we all hear a lot more of lately. Whether it relates to content creators, social media, or we ourselves consume content. We see content on Instagram, we scroll and scroll on Tiktok, and even on LinkedIn now. There’s also all of the content that we read in the forms of articles, blog posts, interviews, etc in written form. It goes beyond beauty, fashion, and music. There’s a huge need and space for health content specifically. If you’ve ever wanted to get into health content writing, this episode is for you.  Megan Freeland set out on her own to build ..read more

Pharmacists working in tech. You’re likely hearing more about pharmacists who no longer work in a clinical or community setting but instead are working from home, have taken on another job title, but are still utilizing their clinical knowledge. What do they do and what does it take to get there? Kelley D. Carlstrom is a board-certified oncology pharmacist that has worked in a variety of traditional and non-traditional settings including at a large academic medical center where she specialized in blood and marrow transplantation, at a small community hospital, as a consultant for a large elect ..read more

As pharmacists, we continuously read up on clinical updates, pharmacy news & stories, and we need to take a certain number of continuing education credits. Pharmacists also happen to create, implement, write, or publish those resources we love to read and learn from. Not only is Janan Sarwar a friend and mentor to me personally, but Janan is a medical writer, pharmacy career coach, and advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is currently a Medical Program Manager for Knowfully Learning Group, serves as the Chief Content Officer at The Happy PharmD, and is a Pharmacy Initiative L ..read more