As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it’s important to recognize the incredible women faculty members who have made a difference in the next generation of pharmacists. Last month, we invited students to nominate faculty who are women who have made a positive impact in their academic pursuits and career trajectory.

Dr. Coco Yang

What makes her a fantastic resource for CUSP?

“Dr. Yang was my preceptor during APPEs, and she consistently encouraged and pushed us to do the best we could. She is one of the best faculty we have, and I am forever grateful to have her as a mentor now.”

What are some of her most excellent qualities?

“Dr. Yang is super well-rounded- like she knows everything! It’s inspiring to me to watch her balance teaching and staying active in her leadership positions.”

When asked for her response, Dr. Yang said that she was “truly honored and humbled” to find out that students saw her in this light. “By training the next generation of pharmacists to be caring, competent, and compassionate healthcare professionals, I am excited that our profession continues to thrive and make a positive impact on the lives of patients and communities for years to come.”

Dr. Kimberly Won

What makes her a fantastic resource for CUSP?

“She’s always supported me, and genuinely cared about how I am doing not only in school but also in life. Dr. Won is empathetic, communicates well, and instructs with humanity.”

Is there a specific story you would like to share about her?

“She would spend time out of her busy schedule to go over drug indications, brand, and generic names when she knew I was struggling. It meant a lot for her to do that with me.”

Dr. Amy Kang

What makes her a fantastic resource for CUSP?

“Dr. Kang will make rotation experiences specifically tailored to student interests and will try her best to help us as much as possible during our rotations.”

What are some of her most excellent qualities?

“Leadership, commitment, and passion. She’s a true role model for me and my peers.”

Is there a specific story you would like to share about her?

“Even though my rotation with her was purely research she has created various teaching and clinical opportunities to help me explore different areas of interest.”

Dr. Laura Tsu

What makes her a fantastic resource for CUSP?

“She is always available and tries her best to make rotations as tailored to your learning as possible.”

What are some of her most excellent qualities?

“Commitment, knowledge, expertise.”

 

Dr. Mary “G” Gutierrez

Some faculty were nominated multiple times, which further shows their influence over CUSP students. Dr. Gutierrez is honored, and she “appreciates the kind words from my students.” “I love what I do as a professor and pharmacist in psychiatric pharmacy practice,” she says.

What makes her a fantastic resource for CUSP?

“She has always encouraged her students to keep going with any ideas they have. This has led me to love the academic space because there are people like her who advocate for students and underrepresented populations.”

Another student reported that “she is a fantastic resource for CUSP because many other schools do not put a lot of focus on psychiatry. Personally, Dr. G has increased my interest in psych because she is helping me understand how much pharmacists can help and be a part of improving the mental health of our patients/clients.”

A third student also chimed in, saying that “she is an amazing professor and provides real-life cases for students to learn the material better. She also is such a caring person as a professor and friend.”

What are some of her most excellent qualities?

“Leadership, communication, empathy, compassion, creativity, humor, kindness”

“Her communication is thorough and very helpful for understanding the topics she is teaching to her students. She always offers a helping hand for clarification about any topic you may not have fully understood during class and it shows that she truly loves her line of work.”

Is there a specific story you would like to share about her?

“While I was on rotation, I was speaking about Dr. G to one of my coworkers (who is a pharmacist) and mentioning how she tells personal stories about herself, patients, or her experiences in psychiatry, and how explaining what she has come across helps us (her students) relate to the topic more. She even will crack a joke or two to lighten the topic, and my pharmacist knew right away whom I was talking about even before saying her name. My coworker said, “Is your teacher’s name Mary G?” I stopped and looked with surprise, “Yes, how did you know?” She remembered Dr. G from working at another institution doing her clinical rotations. My coworker said that Dr. G was also impactful to her choice in staying in psychiatry. I told Dr. G about it and she was very pleased that she remembered her and was proud that, even back then, her words were impactful.”

 

Dr. Jerika Lam

Much like Dr. Gutierrez, Dr. Lam was also nominated several times. Dr. Jerika Lam, an associate professor of pharmacy practice, said that she is “very honored to be nominated by the CUSP students and to know what they think of me.”

What makes her a fantastic resource for CUSP?

“Dr. Lam is very passionate about not only her amazing research in HIV prevention but also, legislation, specifically the ones that will make a lasting impact on the pharmacy field on the national level. She is currently advocating for provider status in pharmacists, which will not only expand our scope of practice but also allows us to be reimbursed on a national level for our service, gaining the recognition that pharmacist deserve.”

Another student also chimed in, saying that Dr. Lam is “equally passionate about the pharmacy profession as she is instilling the same fervor in her students. She always makes herself available for her students and goes above and beyond in all that she does. Her support allows our student chapter of CSHP to excel, and all our achievements can be linked back to her and her support.”

“She genuinely really cares about her students,” said a third student. “Despite her very busy schedule, she consistently will move things around to squeeze in a quick meeting with students. She cares not only about her student’s successes but also their well-being. She provides aid in any way that she can to help students thrive. She is passionate about her work as well as her students. She has plenty of resources that she can refer to students to further their academic journey. She is also immensely involved at CUSP and has a tremendous network that she consistently shares with students.”

Among the three responses, the students listed communication, leadership, kindness, and motivation as the top qualities.

Is there a specific story you would like to share about her?

“At AltaMed, an HIV clinic and her main practice site, she took the initiative of starting a program to make Cabenuva available to her patients. There are a lot of moving parts to this process including insurance paperwork, coordinating the oral lead-in, and ensuring proper storage and handling of the injection that requires refrigeration. However, all of Dr. Lam’s hard work really paid off when the first patient who was started on Cabenuva expressed how the medication really improved his quality of life. He didn’t realize how many GI side effects he was experiencing due to his oral HIV medication until he started Cabenuva, and with the dosing frequency, he can lead a normal life. Dr. Lam’s clear passion for helping her patients is very inspiring as a future pharmacist.”