By Lori Maricle, College of Pharmacy
YAKIMA, Wash. – Patrick (Pat) O’Connor, director of pharmacy at Toppenish Community Hospital, has been named the 2014 Preceptor of the Year by the College of Pharmacy at Washington State University.
The award was presented at an open house on the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences campus in Yakima. The event brought the two universities together with the local health care community to celebrate the WSU-PNWU partnership to expand health sciences education in the area.
“By sharing your knowledge and experiences, and providing objective feedback, you are helping to shape and discover new capabilities in our student pharmacists,” said Jennifer Robinson, the WSU college’s student services director, while presenting the award. “We are grateful for the spirit of service you have shown in preparing our student pharmacists for their professional goals.”
The award is given annually to a pharmacy preceptor for outstanding contributions to the educational development of future pharmacists by demonstrating high standards of professionalism, ethics and clinical practice within the experiential training environment. O’Connor was selected for his consistent demonstration of commitment to student pharmacists on rotation, to his colleagues, to his leadership role at the hospital and to the pharmacy profession.
O’Connor graduated from the WSU doctor of pharmacy program in 1995 and has been a pharmacy preceptor since 2001. Preceptors supervise student pharmacists while they move through a series of six-week rotations that make up their final year of the doctor of pharmacy program.
He was nominated by WSU College of Pharmacy 2014 graduate Jalena Young.
“Patrick helped me develop confidence as a pharmacist that I took with me to all my other rotations,” she said.
Contacts:
Patrick O’Connor, Toppenish Community Hospital, 509-865-3105, patrick.oconnor@hma.com
Lori Maricle, WSU College of Pharmacy, 509-368-6679, lmaricle@wsu.edu