Page 19 - RxBound Winter 2020

Her love for airplanes began in high school. Stephy attended of Pharmacy Practice and Administration Doreen Pon,
a camp hosted by the Girl Scouts at NASA Ames Research PharmD, BCOP, BCPS. The study is “Appropriateness of
Center in San Jose, California. A NASA engineer invited her Naloxone Usage in Oncology Inpatients: A Single-Center
back to intern for a couple of summers, inspiring her first Cross-Sectional Study.”
career — engineering.
In her spare time, Stephy reviewed nearly 100 patient records
She pursued a major in aerospace and mechanical over two months, driving to the hospital to access patient
engineering, receiving her degree from UC Davis in 2012. records while also putting in four hours as an intern
pharmacist each day.
Stephy chose her second career path — pharmacy — because
she wants to provide a medication regimen to her patients “Because of Stephy’s interest in oncology, she approached me
and take on the role of empathetic educator. about working on a summer research project during her
P1(first) year,” Pon said. “I was a bit hesitant at first because
Stephy followed her boyfriend in 2017 to Southern
most of my research projects involve collecting clinical
California. He works as a physician at Kaiser Permanente in
information from patients’ medical records and do require
Fontana.
clinical knowledge and judgment, which most students are
She knew WesternU was nearby and reached out to volunteer just starting to acquire during their P1 year. When I spoke
at the College’s pharmacy lab, where she met associate with Stephy about a possible project, however, it was very
professors Ying Huang, PhD, MMed, MD, and Bradley T. evident that she had good analytical skills and was quick to
Andresen, PhD, FAHA. pick up information and connect the dots.”

Stephy took prerequisite classes and earned her pharmacy After completing data collection and analysis, Stephy
technician license before applying to WesternU. In 2018, she presented her findings at the WesternU Student Technology
was accepted into the College of Pharmacy through the early and Research Symposium (STRS) and the annual meeting of
decision process administered by PharmCAS. the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists in 2019.
“Choosing WesternU was an easy choice because of the “In working with Stephy, I have concluded that she is a person
personal relationships with some faculty I already had who doesn’t see limitations, only possibilities,” Pon said.
established,” Stephy said. “I felt like this was the kind of
Stephy’s plan after graduation is to work as an ICU
environment I wanted to grow in. I felt the professors were
pharmacist. She enjoys working with other disciplines to help
very approachable and personable, and they’d be able to help
find relief for a patient — part of the process she learned
me grow and have my best interest.”
while going through the WesternU Interprofessional
Stephy has been working as an intern at Whittier Hospital Education program — and likes a clinical setting.
Medical Center gaining valuable experience, where she is
“I like the idea of working in a team dynamic,” Stephy said.
allowed to take part in intravenous therapy, compounding,
“I think we all have the patient’s best interests in mind,
discharge, phone call follow-ups, medical recommendations
though we all have a different perspective to offer the
on admissions, and anti-coagulation monitoring.
patient.” n
Over the summer of 2019, she worked in the research lab on
a study that was under the mentorship of Associate Professor

“At the time, I was helping design

and test airplanes, making things

fly better and faster…and I realized

I couldn’t work for Boeing anymore

because I have to help people and

I have to save lives.”

WesternU, College of Pharmacy 17