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PHARMACIST SPOTLIGHT: RACHEL OTTING, PHARMD

Rachel Otting, PharmD

Clinical Pharmacist MercyOne Pharmacy

Written By: Maureen Martin, PharmD Candidate Class of 2021 University of Iowa College of Pharmacy An open mind and a willingness to say yes to new opportunities have helped shape many pharmacists’ career pathways. This has certainly been true for Rachel Otting.

The Charles City native came to pharmacy school as a nontraditional student. She completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, spending four years as a member of the varsity swim team. Following graduation, she returned to Charles City, unsure what she wanted to do next. Her father told her she just had to pick something, so she chose pharmacy. In January 2007, she began working as a pharmacy technician at Connor’s Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy in Charles City at the time, and completing prerequisite courses for pharmacy school. She graduated from the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy in 2013 with her PharmD.

As a fourth-year pharmacy student, Rachel completed one of her advanced pharmacy practice experiences with the Medical Assistance Center at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She enjoyed working with the patients, often from underserved populations, to find ways to make their medications more affordable. When considering her options after graduation, she remembered this experience and searched for residency programs that would allow her to continue working with underserved patient populations. Rachel completed the PGY-1 community residency program at Mercy Family Pharmacy in Dubuque. During her residency, Rachel gained experience managing chronic disease states through a collaborative practice agreement, working with hospital staff to increase patient safety during transitions of care and managing anticoagulation therapy, among other valuable experiences including an elective with the Iowa Pharmacy Association.

After successfully completing her PGY-1 residency, Rachel entered her current role at MercyOne Pharmacy as a clinical pharmacist. One of the many things she loves about her position is the variety of her responsibilities. There is always something new. Her current role focuses on transitions of care, but she also works with long term care and palliative care and precepts pharmacy students as well as the MercyOne PGY-1 Pharmacy resident. Rachel works closely with the interdisciplinary team on the inpatient psych unit to facilitate transitions of care for those patients by monitoring their medications for other disease states and preemptively completing prior authorizations before patients are discharged. Though her role has changed from what she experienced in her residency, Rachel has enjoyed gaining experience in new areas and having the opportunity to continue working with the medically underserved patient population that initially drew her to MercyOne in Dubuque. She is able to follow her patients as they transition between inpatient and outpatient, which she has found to be a unique and rewarding experience.

When she is not at the pharmacy, Rachel enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, catching up with friends, and being involved in the Rotary Club. Son Atticus and daughter Etta keep Rachel busy with various activities, including sledding in the winter and visiting the pool in the summer. Rotary Club provides a refreshing chance to meet other members of the community and collaborate on projects unrelated to pharmacy. Rachel enjoys the local connections she has made within the Rotary Club.

Building and maintaining local connections is important in pharmacy as well, which is one of the reasons Rachel is also an active member of the Iowa Pharmacy Association. IPA helps foster connections between pharmacists in the state and offers opportunities and resources for pharmacists to learn how to advocate for the profession. To move the profession forward, Rachel believes pharmacists must educate the public about what we do. When she entered pharmacy school, Rachel had no idea how many different services pharmacists are trained to provide or the variety of different settings in which pharmacists work. Now, after seven years as a pharmacist, Rachel has had the opportunity to provide services she never would have imagined when she was in school. IPA is appreciative of Rachel’s ongoing commitment to the profession and looks forward to all the success that lies ahead of her! ■

WELCOME NEW IPA MEMBERS!

OCTOBER 1, 2020 – DECEMBER 31, 2020

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS: BOARD OF TRUSTEES EDITION

Alexis Clouse

PharmD Candidate 2022 University of Iowa IPA Board of Trustees Originally from Winterset, Iowa, Alexis Clouse is currently a P3 student at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy. She was inspired to go to pharmacy school after spending time working at the independent pharmacy in her hometown, Montross Pharmacy, in high school. There, she saw first-hand the impact pharmacists have in the community, and she wanted to do the same.

Within the college, she currently serves as the president of the Student Leadership Council. She is also involved in the pharmacy student ambassador network, Rho Chi, Kappa Psi, UI-SSHP, and graduate and professional student government.

Within IPA, Alexis serves on the IPA Board of Trustees as the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy student representative and on the Student Advisory Committee. When asked about her career goals, she mentioned her interest in family medicine, geriatrics, and acute care, and how eager she is to start exploring different areas on her P4 rotations starting this May.

After rotations, Alexis plans to complete a residency and become board certified while also continuing involvement within pharmacy organizations and being an ongoing advocate for the pharmacy profession.

Besides pharmacy, Alexis enjoys interior design and looks forward to designing her own dream home one day. In her free time, she loves to listen to podcasts, workout, and shop. When asked to share a fun fact about herself, Alexis mentioned that she was a state champion in softball her freshman year of high school! ■

Courtney Temple

PharmD Candidate 2022 Drake University IPA Board of Trustees Courtney Temple, P3 student at Drake University College of Pharmacy, is originally from Newell, Iowa. Interested in science since childhood, Courtney knew she wanted to work in the healthcare field. Having many family members with type 1 diabetes (As well as herself!) and a brother born with a congenital heart defect, she quickly became familiar with medications and their uses and realized she found this area of healthcare fascinating.

At Drake, Courtney is involved in the Drake Pharmacy Unified Group of Students (DRxUGS) and Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, where she serves as pledge trainer, philanthropy chair, and pledge class fundraising co-chair.

Within IPA, Courtney serves on the IPA Board of Trustees as the Drake University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences student representative and on the Student Advisory Committee.

When asked about her future, she said she plans to work in an ambulatory care setting that will allow her to work primarily with patients who have diabetes and utilize her Spanish language knowledge.

In her free time, Courtney enjoys reading, being outdoors, and spending time with friends and family. ■

MEMBER TIP: CEimpact Subscription Activation

To obtain CE in 2021, ENGAGED Pharmacist and Pharmacy Technician members must activate two separate CE subscriptions: one for CEimpact’s Course Catalog and one for BOP: What, Why & How podcasts as well as select 2/2/2 webinars. This is new this year.

Both subscriptions can be easily activated from www.iarx.org/accesscpe when logged into your account. You will see step-by-step instructions for doing so after clicking the “Activate My Subscription” button.

With this change, CONNECTED and INFORMED Pharmacist members will soon be able to purchase CE packages for the year’s BOP podcasts and accredited 2/2/2 webinars. Stay tuned for details. Accreditation pending.

Watch for additional Member Tips in upcoming IPA Journals! If you have suggestions, feel free to submit your Member Tip ideas to Allison Hale at ahale@iarx.org.

IPA MEMBER BENEFIT

Have You Accessed Your FREE Continuing Education Benefits Yet?

WWW.IARX.ORG/ACCESSCPE

IPA ENGAGED Pharmacist and Pharmacy Technician members receive a FREE subscription to CEimpact’s Pharmacist or Pharmacy Technician Course Catalog, which includes all required CPE for pharmacist relicensure and pharmacy technician recertification for FREE.

In addition, you also receive FREE continuing education credit for IPA’s BOP: What, Why & How podcast series and select 2/2/2 webinar recordings!

MEMBER MILESTONES

Congratulations to Kimerly Metcalf for becoming the first technician in Iowa to receive Advanced Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT-Adv) with PTCB. Read more under her Technician Spotlight! Congratulations to Mark Branum as he becomes the new Pharmacist-in-Charge at Donlon Pharmacy in Decorah!

IN MEMORIAM

It is with sad news that we share the passing of Robert Miller on December 20, 2020. A graduate of Drake University, Bob was a licensed and practicing pharmacist for more than 50 years, owning Rowe Drug Store on Ottumwa’s south side before finishing his career at NuCara Pharmacy.

Lastly, we sadly share the passing of Gene Carlson on February 4, 2021. Gene earned his BS Pharm from Drake University in 1957. He and his wife Kay moved to Ottumwa in March of ‘57, where he worked for Southside Drug until purchasing the business in 1967. Gene was a longstanding member of IPA. With a heavy heart, we also share the passing of Dan Newton on January 21, 2021. Dan’s career in pharmacy began when he was just 14 years old, working as a clerk at the Corner Pharmacy in Newton. A 1975 graduate of the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy, Dan worked at hospital pharmacies in Osage, Waterloo and Maquoketa before returning to Newton in 1991. He then spent the majority of his career as a pharmacist at Skiff Medical Center (MercyONE Newton).

IPA GOES LOCAL

Due to COVID-19, IPA Goes Local programming was impractical in 2020. Stay tuned for plans in 2021! Resources from previous Goes Local events, including MedPharm’s presentation on medical cannabis in Iowa during IPA’s 2020 Annual Meeting, are still available at www.iarx.org/goeslocal.

THREE NEW WAYS TO JOIN IPA

Get it all and fully engage in your profession at the ENGAGED level of membership! This tier offers pharmacists the greatest value and full access to all membership benefits.

Benefits include: CONNECTED + free CPE with CEimpact’ s Pharmacist Library, eligibility to serve on IPA Committees, exclusive discounts and communications, free IPA Journal print subscription, and more!

Benefits include: INFORMED + full access to IPA’ s webpage resources, discounted registration to IPA events, free IPA Journal e-subscription, exclusive professional communications, and more!

Not sure about membership just yet? The INFORMED tier is being offered to keep you up-to-date with the latest pharmacy news and trends as you consider a higher-level IPA membership.

Don ’t need free CPE but seeking a higher level of involvement in your profession? Stay connected with the latest pharmacy news and advance your practice with resources at your fingertips!

Benefits include: Weekly TOP5 emails, Advocacy Alerts, access to IPA Podcasts, 2/2/2 & Connecting Over COVID-19 Webinars, and more!

PLATINUM BUSINESS PARTNER

Elevate the level of care you provide your patients.

www.iarx.org/platinum

PLATINUM BUSINESS PARTNERS receive all the benefits of a standard business partner PLUS access to higher level of services and resources from IPA. Here’s what some of our Platinum Business Partners have to say:

“Although IPA is well positioned to address many of our hospital pharmacy concerns, one area we really needed their assistance was with getting a pharmacy residency program started. IPA customized our platinum business partner membership to meet our specific needs and created a detailed proposal for us that included planning for accreditation, staffing, and budget requirements for us to present to our executives for final approval. IPA’s help has been instrumental in providing us with insight and resources for us to foster innovation to across our pharmacy department and further drive the mission and vision of our institution.” “Our company joined as a Platinum Business Partner with IPA approximately one year ago. Not only do we feel more connected to what’s going on in the industry, legislature, and within the organization, we also have a direct line of communication for any questions/concerns or help on matters that affect our business. One example is the help that we received from IPA in bridging some communication problems we were having with the MCO’s regarding DME billing. Thanks to the contacts they have established with members of those organizations, we were able to get the assistance we needed for billing claims. We gain a lot of information through our quarterly touch-base phone calls and also appreciate the discounts on various resources thanks to our PBP membership!” – Heather Storey, Pharmacy Manager, Clinical Consultant

Lewis Drug