Preceptors of the Year, others honored at annual awards ceremony

Binghamton University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences held its annual awards ceremony Thursday, Oct. 24, in the atrium of its building, honoring students, faculty and preceptors.

Lucy Stephens, a staff pharmacist at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa., was recognized as the Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) Institutional Preceptor of the Year, and Bethany Warfle, staff pharmacist at CVS Store 02414 in Johnson City, NY, was honored as IPPE Community Preceptor of the Year. Both were introduced by their students and acknowledged their pharmacy teams for this recognition.

Alicia Letizio and Shabeli Farooq, current P3 students, said they could not have been more fortunate than to have Stephens guide and teach them as they shadowed pharmacists in various roles within the hospital, including critical care, infectious diseases and oncology.

“Lucy was always open to feedback and worked with us to make sure we got the most out of our institutional experience,” Letizio said. “I learned more during this rotation than I ever could have imagined.”

“She taught us how to communicate with patients, to not only build trust with patients but with everyone around you,” Farooq said. “She really emphasized the importance of collaboration and how important and necessary it is to optimize healthcare for each patient. And even though she was responsible for eight students at the same time, she always had a smile on her face!”

Stephens shared the credit with her colleagues. “We did it as a group, so ideally I thank all of my coworkers,” she said. “We all worked together to make sure everyone had the same experiences.” Stephens worked with eight students at the same time, each spending part of their Wednesday for 10 weeks at Guthrie Robert Packer.

“It’s important to have an open line of communication,” Stephens added. “You need to be able to give feedback and use that feedback to make the rotation better for the students in the end.”

Peyton Woloszyn, a P2 student, spoke of her experience learning from Warfle during her first rotation experience. “Going into our first rotations as P1s was a bit nerve-wracking,” she said. “As much as we prepared for them, it’s difficult to know what exactly to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth my rotational experience ended up being.

“Dr. Warfle is pleasant to all customers, regardless of how hectic things may be behind the counter, which may seem like something everyone should automatically do, but it stood out to me mostly because you don’t always see that in the retail setting,” Woloszyn added. “Dr. Warfle made it less intimidating to be introduced to community pharmacy by being extremely patient with us, as well as understanding and kind. Regardless of what she was doing at any time, she would gladly answer any questions we had and made sure to explain what tasks she was performing and why.”

Warfle said she felt a bit embarrassed because her work with PharmD students is a team effort. “Everyone in my store is very helpful,” Warfle said. “I had three students this year, each for two weeks and, in general, showed them what being a community pharmacist is all about, breaking down the tasks and the different responsibilities and giving them an idea of whether this is an area they want to go into.”

Other awards presented at the ceremony included:

Students

• Award for Academic Excellence to Keri Mastro, Class of 2021; Anthony Hopkins, Class of 2022; Rachel Karasek, Class of 2022; and Julia Paterson, Class of 2022
• Top 10 Percent of Class Merit Award to Class of 2021: Kush Grover, Amandeep Kaur, Elizabeth Laughlin, Keri Mastro, Raisa Nishat and Yvonne Xu; and Class of 2022: Tony Feng, Emily Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Brian Kam, Rachel Karasek, Jacqueline Markle, Evan Miller and Julia Paterson
• Dean’s Honor Roll (see list online)
• Excellence in Community Pharmacy IPPE Award to Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Ink, Paul Li, Sangjukta Sen Roy and Katarina Tibensky
• Excellence in Institutional Pharmacy IPEE Award to Stephanie Chiu and Shabeli Farooq
• Barnes & Noble Scholarships to Kevin Miller, Kaitlin Moy and Stephanie Schwartz
• Lilly Achievement Award to Brian Kam

Faculty

• Teacher of the Year, Pharmacy Practice to Sarah Lynch, director of skills education and clinical assistant professor; and William Eggleston, clinical assistant professor
• Teacher of the Year, Health Outcomes and Administrative Services, and Pharmaceutical Sciences to Aaron Beedle, associate professor; and Tracy Brooks, assistant professor and Menner Family Endowed Faculty Fellow