Pharmacy alums win national awards

FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science (COPPS) alumni Rhonda Norwood, PharmD, Class of 2004, and Rashida Hudson, PharmD, Class of 2003, both received the One-To-One Patient Counseling Recognition Program Award at the American Pharmacist Association (APhA) meeting held in Washington, D.C.

Norwood, a pharmacist with the Veterans Affairs (VA) Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Delray, Fla., said, “Following up with patients and providing one-to-one counseling is important. I see the difference with my own two eyes. Patients who know that they will have to see me again in a month are motivated to do the right thing.”

Before moving to the VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic, Norwood managed a community health center ambulatory care clinic for three days a week, focusing especially on helping clients manage diabetes. Norwood has been known to help uninsured patients who could not afford regular treatment.

“The key to assisting patients with achieving such successful outcomes, is to treat the patient and not the chart,” said Norwood. Her colleagues have described Norwood as “a pharmacist who is dedicated to improving the lives of her patients through diligent disease management.”

Hudson, a pharmacist for Kroger Pharmacy in Nashville, Tenn., said, “Outside the pharmacy is where the real work begins. You have to get out into the community where the people are, especially when they don’t have insurance and are unable to see doctors. The community is where you reach the people who care the most.”

The colleague who nominated Hudson for the one-to-one recognition said, “Hudson is driven and motivated by knowing that her purpose in life is to help those who cannot help themselves.”

Hudson called patient counseling her passion and ministry.

“I just love it so much that there are some days I have to force myself to stop working,” she said.

Henry Lewis III, dean and professor said, “We are extremely proud that ‘two’ FAMU pharmacy graduates received national recognition for the jobs they do in serving our communities. To have not one, but two recognized at one of the largest meetings of practicing pharmacists in the country highlights the training received here in Tallahassee.”