A LOOK INTO THE LIVES AND CAREERS OF FREECE FACULTY MEMBERS: PART 4
We have hundreds of esteemed faculty members, working behind the scenes to deliver a constant flow of relevant and interesting continuing education to our learners. While they come from impressive backgrounds and hold a wealth of experience, there are some things that their bios just can’t capture.
Let’s take a moment to peek behind the curtain to give you more insight into the daily lives and careers of the people who are teaching our classes.
We asked some of our top faculty members the question:
“How would your students/learners describe your teaching style?“
Here’s what they said:
Peter Cohron, BSPharm, JD:
Student feedback is that my style is laid back and repetitive — I repeat important points twice. They appreciate that for note-taking.
Mark Garofoli, PharmD, MBA, BCGP, CPE, CTTS:
If you’re not laughing, you’re not learning. That and “freestyle.”
Peter Kreckel, RPh:
Very hands on and very challenging. I expect them to have the same level of passion that I do. My Physician Assistant students at St. Francis LOVED my teaching style, as I gave them packets of lecture notes. I would not use PowerPoint slides, as they are too busy and hard to read when printed.
My students loved the fact that I worked for a living in the pharmacy world, and I shared countless stories with them from my practice. I worked 40 hours a week in the pharmacy AND taught classes. Those students always said that Thursday morning was their favorite morning, as Mr. Kreckel and quite frequently Mrs. Kreckel kept the morning full of information and full of fun. Mrs. Kreckel’s treat bags for the holidays stand out in all of my former students’ memories.
Megan Adelman, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP, CDE:
I hope my learners would describe me as innovative, passionate, caring, and evidence based. I come from a line of fabulous teachers (elementary!) but didn’t have the courage to successfully run a room of 25+ kiddos (teachers have a special place in heaven!). But my family of educators — primarily my mother — taught me a lot about being an educator. Primarily, to never stay stagnant but mostly to have fun. Learning can be engaging and entertaining — it’s not mutually exclusive. One of my favorite aspects is to incorporate gaming into education. If you haven’t heard about this — I encourage you to look it up as it’s a great way to engage with #genZ!
Joseph LaRochelle, PharmD, BCPPS, FCCP, FNAP, FPPA:
It would depend when you asked them the question. At the beginning of a learning experience I think they would say it’s an annoying teaching style. They will ask me questions, and I rarely give them the answer and force them to find the answer themselves. It puts them in a position to use their prior knowledge to develop a conclusion on their own. They get mad at me as I am forcing them to think for themselves. After the experience, if you ask the same question they generally say they learned a lot and enjoyed being forced to think.
Kevin Hope, RPh:
I would hope that they would describe it as being passionate. Teaching information is the simple part. ChatGPT or a quick internet search can do that. A great teacher strives to help the learner understand WHY the information matters. In every topic that we discuss, there is a patient at the other end. Helping learners understand the human element of that patient … and how this information relates to helping them heal or better enjoy life is paramount. Never be afraid to tell the story!
I would also hope that they would describe my style as being easily understood. Let’s face it: we deal with complex topics every day. That does not mean, however, that our knowledge cannot build off of things that we already know. As American songwriter Woody Guthrie once said, “Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.”
I must say that I acquired many of these skills for passion and simplicity in listening to my father preach. As a pastor, my dad was great at “telling the story” in a passionate way. Completely unaware of my upbringing, one of my co-workers jokingly told me one time, “I feel like we should be going into prayer at the end of your sessions!” “Yes!” I exclaimed! Reflection time. Why did our message today matter, even if it is about hypertension? Call it “preacher kid magic” or what you like. It is engrained and is there to stay.
Donald Sullivan, RPh, PHD:
My teaching style is fun and straight to the point. I try to cut right to the most important information and mix it with some classroom fun (Trivia Tuesdays, Dance Party Thursdays, Music videos before class, etc.).
Did you like this interview-style article? Check out part 2 of this series here to see how our faculty answered the question: what do you like most and least about your career?
We hope you enjoyed these responses as much as we did! Join freeCE today and gain unlimited access to all our courses, taught by our fascinating and dedicated faculty.
