Gatton welcomes new residents, fellow
JOHNSON CITY (July 30, 2018) — East Tennessee State University’s Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy welcomes several new residents and a fellow who will be furthering their postgraduate pharmacy training in various practice settings over the next few years.
Laura Dollins, of Berea, Kentucky, is the first resident in Gatton’s new Postgraduate Year 1 (PGY1) Community-based Pharmacy Residency, a program created in partnership with Boone Drug and Healthcare in Boone, North Carolina. The program is designed to prepare community-based pharmacists as leaders and innovators through unique practice experiences, with the goal of elevating pharmacy practice and overall healthcare both in the region and nationally.
“My heart is in community pharmacy, so I hope to use this residency to learn and become a better healthcare provider for my patients,” said Dollins, who earned her bachelor’s in biology from Eastern Kentucky University and a PharmD from ETSU earlier this year.
Cameron Lanier, of Wilmington, North Carolina, has been accepted into the college’s Internal Medicine Residency for second-year postgraduates. He earned his bachelor’s in biology from University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, a PharmD from Campbell University and a master’s in social and administration science from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. Cameron did his PGY1 pharmacy residency at Campbell University/Harnett Health in Lillington, North Carolina.
Lanier’s goal is to work as an academic clinical pharmacist.
“Ideally, I would like to be in a situation where I would have the ability to work as a clinical pharmacist, conduct research, and teach and precept students,” he said.
Tyler Melton, of Sylva, North Carolina, has been accepted into the Community Pharmacy Practice Research Fellowship. He received his bachelor’s in chemistry and biology from Western Carolina University in 2008, and he earned his PharmD from ETSU in 2012.
“My experiences as a student at Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy were formative and exciting,” Melton said. “The college supported, encouraged and provided me with diverse personal and professional opportunities which shaped me as a healthcare professional and prepared me to effectively practice pharmacy for the past six years in the mountains of North Carolina.”
Those experiences led him to apply for the fellowship, along with the accomplishments of the fellowship director and Gatton faculty member Dr. Nick Hagemeier, who is nationally recognized for his research into prescription drug abuse prevention and treatment.
Ultimately, Melton would like to pursue a career in pharmacy academia and prescription drug abuse research.
Wade Tugman, of Mountain City, has been accepted into the Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Residency for second-year postgraduates. He earned his bachelor’s in Allied Health Sciences from Milligan College in 2013 and his PharmD from ETSU in 2017. He completed his PGY1 pharmacy residency at the Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System in Nashville.
“I wanted to return to Gatton as a pharmacy resident because of how progressive ambulatory care pharmacy practice is in this area and also because I wanted to come back to East Tennessee and serve the community in which I grew up,” said Tugman, who plans to work as an ambulatory care pharmacist serving patients in the Appalachian region.
Learn more about Gatton's postgraduate training at www.etsu.edu/pharmacy/post_grads/default.php.