PRECEPTOR SPOTLIGHT

OEE would like to highlight preceptors providing pharmacy practice experiences for MCW students. Tamara Struebing was one of the nominees for APPE Preceptor of the Year.

Meet Tamara Struebing, PharmD, BCACP

What do you want other preceptors to know about you? (Introduce yourself)

I am a primary clinical pharmacist who practices with Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin. This is my 20th year in pharmacy, and I am blessed to have a career that has been more of a hobby than work. Before pharmacy, I was a high school science teacher. I enjoy helping patients improve their health through lifestyle and medication changes. As a pharmacist, we have many tools to share to improve a patient’s success, from side effects reduction, improved adherence by dose frequency reduction, streamlining therapy or cost reduction.

What IPPE or APPE rotations do you precept? APPE Elective and Clinical Rotations What do you enjoy most about precepting? Precepting is about training the next generation of caregivers and colleagues. In pharmacy school, students gain their foundation. On this rotation, they can apply these tools based on patient shared decision-making models. Ultimately, it is about listening to patients and helping THEM APPLY the best of your knowledge. I enjoy seeing a learner grow in confidence to encourage good lifestyle changes, share in patient success stories that they have been integral in creating, as well as growth from learner to professional.

My favorite part of precepting is connecting with learners over the years to hear about their career successes and accomplishments – the established mentoring role continues much longer than just the rotation block. I have been blessed to now work with learners who completed rotations with me years ago and now are colleagues.

What are you doing as a preceptor to positively prepare the next generation of pharmacists? Part of my role is to stay up to date with current treatment modalities. This means not only connecting clinical guidelines but also keeping fresh on technology innovations, cost containment resources through Pharma, as well as patient-based resources. My clinical pharmacist team has implemented an intensive disease state review course for learners at the beginning of each rotation. I found that while learners know the clinical guidelines, it may have been a while since they actively reviewed them. This intense review helps learners grow and focus on all the modalities of the primary care role quickly so they may implement it in their patient interactions earlier in their rotation.

As a clinical pharmacist, I have learners who have worked with other disciplines such as diabetes education and primary care providers to learn how the puzzle connects.