A Look into the Lives and Careers of freeCE Faculty Members: Part 1
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:
“What is the most memorable or wild incident you can recall in your career?”
Here’s what they said:
Peter Cohron, BSPharm, JD
Early in my pharmacist days, I was working at a rural independent pharmacy. One of the technicians told me an elderly man out front wanted a word with me. We were busy and I asked her to tell the man I would be there in a few minutes. I was not anxious to get out there — too much to do behind the counter, where I thought I should be. Not out front talking to someone who likely had a question the tech could handle.
Finally, I decided he had waited long enough. At least, I — a relatively new, full-of-himself pharmacist — was polite when I asked how I could help him. “You’re a pharmacist,” he said. “Yes, sir,” I replied. “I need your help and I know a pharmacist would know what to do,” he said. He went on to tell me his lifelong friend had just passed away. He needed to pick the right sympathy card for the widow and knew he could rely on me to help him get the right one.
I was stunned; it was right then I realized just how much people did respect and admire the profession. I swallowed my ego and spent a few minutes talking about his friend and picking out a suitable card.
Mark Garofoli, PharmD, MBA, BCGP, CPE, CTTS
Having a DEA Agent at one of my community pharmacies for almost three months due to the numerous legitimate concerns observed inherited upon taking over as PIC, which followed an original random inspection by the state BoP, and a subsequent random DEA investigator visit the following week.
All confirmed that the reality that I personally counted every controlled substance in the pharmacy and documented as such really “changed the conversation” for me professionally during that time as compared to if I had not done so immediately upon assuming the role. Listen to your Rx Law professors! :)
Peter Kreckel, RPh
I always like to talk about the two times people attempted to hold up the store. Both were bumbling idiots. One guy came in with a hoodie and mask, and the elderly clerk told him “Take off the hood, and for God’s sake take off that mask!” She was so grandmotherly sounding that he complied.
The police came rushing in and put him on the ground. Some lady outside at the traffic light saw him getting dressed and alerted the police! The other guy was 65 years old and held me up with a can of pepper spray! I went to the back and told him we don’t have any oxycodone in the store and offered him some acetaminophen/codeine #3. He thew his arms up and stormed out of the store.
Megan Adelman, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP, CDE
Being in family medicine as a pharmacist is the best career ever. I get to care for patients and get to know them on a personal level, train future pharmacists and aid in the education of medical residents and get to practice at the top of my license. It’s great! Getting to know my patients individually and learn their stories is what keeps me in my role. You never know what is coming through the door though.
One of my recent patients told me she had emotional support animals, and I encouraged her to bring them to an appointment if it helped calm her. Needless to say, she showed up with a bearded dragon and turtle. The appointment was productive, she felt better, and I got to interact with some pretty cool animals!
Donald Sullivan, RPh, PHD
When I was first working as a community pharmacist, I went out to help one of my cashiers with a problem and came back to the pharmacy to find someone had jumped the counter and was stealing controlled substances. I yelled several “four letter words” at them. They dropped all the medication and ran out of the store.
Kevin Hope, RPh
Oh, my. Retail pharmacy was filled with memorable incidents, but if I had to highlight the single most memorable incident in my career, this one tops the list: It was the usual Monday morning madness in my retail pharmacy chain. I received a call from the county coroner’s office, asking if I was Kevin Hope, the pharmacist who filled an amitriptyline prescription for a particular patient. My heart rate increases. Nothing good can come from a conversation with the coroner’s office about a prescription that I had presumably filled.
As it turns out, they were investigating what they felt to be a staged suicide … and this prescription bottle was scattered about at the scene. They proceeded to ask a bunch of questions about a lethal dose for the drug and the normal line of questioning that one might expect from such a call. In the end, they thanked me for my time, left me their number, and bid me farewell.
Two days later, a man approaches the drop off counter at the pharmacy and hands me a prescription for a controlled substance pain medication. The patient’s name? It was the SAME NAME that the coroner had called me about on Monday. The guy stood over us, watching carefully what we were doing. I pretended to be very busy (not difficult in retail pharmacy) and told him that it would be a short wait. I then pretended to be on the phone and scratched out a note to my technician, telling her to say that she had to go to the bathroom … and to go call 911 and read them this note.
Within moments, police were on the scene, apprehending their prime suspect in a case that would later turn into a full blown murder trial … the patient’s son. It is a heartbreaking story and one that gives me chills to this day.
