Pharmacy Preceptor Spotlight | June 2016
This quarter our featured preceptor is Dr. Stephen Gunadi, PharmD from Providence St. Peter Hospital. Learn about Dr. Gunadi's experience working as a preceptor with Pacific University School of Pharmacy students.
What is your favorite part about the profession of pharmacy?
I love the dynamic nature of the profession. There are always opportunities to create new programs which will improve and optimize patient care. For example, I currently precept “Transition of Care” (TOC) which is a new service line we implemented at our hospital that did not exist three years ago. Thanks to the ever- changing landscape of pharmacy, comprehensive Transition of Care Programs are now an initiative as part of Health Care Reform. It’s also become a hot topic in the field of pharmacy and health care in the United States as a whole.
What do you enjoy most about being a preceptor?
I enjoy the opportunity of precepting a diversity of students coming from different backgrounds with the common goal of learning about this new exciting field of Transition of Care. Being able to train our future Pharmacists in this field with knowledge in TOC where they can take to any practice setting, is in and itself a great privilege.
What activities do you do with students on rotations you feel they learn the most from?
I have students present their patients to me in an SOAP format before they go and perform patient counseling and education. This allows them to perform a thorough patient profile review and familiarize themselves with all the disease states, labs, cultures, imaging studies and most importantly medications.
What assignments do you give to students that promotes self-learning?
Students are assigned a vast array of reading assignments including practice guidelines and primary literature. There are biweekly topic discussions which cover disease states that are most often encountered on their TOC rotation.
Have you ever learned something new from a student?
I learn from almost every student who does a rotation with me. One thing I appreciate about having students with a diverse background is that they are able to look at situations with an outside perspective. Transition of Care is a fairly new rotation and students’ input has helped to adjust and improve workflow and processes.
What advice would you give a new preceptor?
Encourage your students to think critically and ask questions. Always keep an open mind for suggestions and recommendations that students may have to improve a rotation. We are training our future Pharmacists, so it is always a good idea to have an open ear to how they learn best.
Stephen Gunadi, PharmD
Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia, Wash.