Martinson Heads List of Top Pharmacy Preceptors

By Cynthia McMullen

Tyler Martinson of Norfolk has been named VCU School of Pharmacy’s 2013 Preceptor of the Year. Martinson, a clinical specialist in internal medicine at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, was recognized during the school’s Senior Banquet on May 10 at the Hilton Richmond Hotel and Spa at Short Pump.

Teaching is the basis of precepting, but the best preceptors go above and beyond. So the School of Pharmacy gives students, fellow preceptors, faculty, administrators and residents the annual opportunity to nominate exemplary preceptors who demonstrate initiative, commitment and excellence as teachers, role models and mentors. The winner is selected by a committee of students, faculty and past award recipients.

"With 30 percent of the curriculum requiring experiential learning activities in authentic pharmacy settings, the success of each student depends on pharmacists who can serve as role models and faculty in the field," said Victor Yanchick, Ph.D., dean of the School of Pharmacy. "They guide students in the application of knowledge and skills learned in the classroom to patient care in pharmacy.

"Clearly, VCU's preceptors are essential to the mission of the school. We are sincerely grateful for their generous contributions of time, expertise, effort and inspiration in developing our future pharmacists."

Accepting the Preceptor of the Year award, Martinson encouraged graduating students to consider being preceptors themselves. There’s nothing more rewarding, he said, than to help educate one’s future peers, knowing you’ve done a good job and that one day those whom you assisted will be standing next to you.

His own award-winning work as a preceptor inspired one nominator to write: “Above all, Dr. Martinson's enthusiasm for his work is infectious; while he is obviously capable of helping students expand their clinical knowledge to become better pharmacists, he also motivates students to want to become even better pharmacists through his leadership by example."

Preceptor of the Year nomination packets must include an essay by the nominee. In his essay, Martinson wrote that his greatest professional satisfaction is in seeing a student grow.

“I know I would not be where I am today if I did not have other pharmacists that were willing to teach me. There is so much information to learn during the first three years of pharmacy school, and I feel it is my job to help the student dig back in their mind and learn how to apply the essential information clinically.

“I usually start my orientation off with the promise that the rotation will be very demanding, but that in the end, they will be shocked with how much they have actually learned. I take pride in training the students and consider each one of them a potential peer within my hospital system. So I consider precepting to be one of the most important roles I play in the hospital and I think of it like an investment in the future of pharmacy."

In addition to Preceptor of the Year, Outstanding Preceptor Awards are presented to recognize one preceptor in each of the nine Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience rotation blocks. At the end of each rotation, fourth-year students are asked to nominate individuals who have demonstrated excellence in precepting.

A committee of students appointed by the dean selects the candidates. The 2012-13 Outstanding Preceptors included:

• Jen Blake, Pharm.D.
  Clinical pharmacy specialist, Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, Fairfax
  Acute Care II – Medical/Surgical ICU rotations
  
  
• Michelle Bundy, Pharm.D.
  Clinical pharmacy specialist, Hampton VA Medical Center, Hampton
  Ambulatory Care and Acute Care I/General Medicine rotations
  
  
• Dave L. Dixon, Pharm.D.
  Assistant professor, VCU School of Pharmacy, Richmond
  Ambulatory Care APPEs
  
  
• Krista Donohoe, Pharm.D.  
  Assistant professor, VCU School of Pharmacy, Richmond (2010 SOP alumna)
  Teaching Elective rotations
  
  
• Amanda Dubil, Pharm.D.
  Clinical pharmacist/PGY2; VCU Health System, Richmond
  Acute Care I/General Medicine APPEs
  
  
• Rusty Maney
  Pharmacy supervisor, Walgreens District Office, Richmond (1987 SOP alumnus)
  Community Pharmacy Management APPEs
  
  
• Amanda Matassa
  Outpatient clinical pharmacist, Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital Outpatient Pharmacy, Richmond (2009 SOP alumna)
  Advanced Community Pharmacy rotations
  
  
• Amber Ormsby Powell
  Critical care clinical specialist, HCA CJW Medical Center-Chippenham,Richmond (2007 SOP alumna)
  Acute Care II/Critical Care rotations
  
  
• Christina Whitehill
  NICU/pediatric clinical pharmacist, HCA Henrico Doctors' Hospital-Forest, Richmond
  Acute Care II/Neonatal ICU rotations

Congratulating all the winners and nominees, Phylliss Moret, assistant dean for experiential education, said more than 100 nominations were submitted for this year’s preceptor awards. The School of Pharmacy, she noted, works with about 1,000 preceptors in Virginia and out of state.

 

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