Each year, the Independent Pharmacy Collective (IPC), the nation’s largest group purchasing organization with over 6,000 independent pharmacy member participants, requests that the UTHSC College of Pharmacy send one of our students to attend their annual conference. Dr. Gretchen Greer, a Class of 2022 graduate, was nominated and selected for this year’s IPC conference.
During the IPC conference, which was held in April in San Diego, California, Dr. Greer was able to network with numerous pharmacy owners and students who share a similar interest in owning a small-town or independent pharmacy. “I originally grew up in a small rural town with limited employment options, but I was constantly reminded of the impact our hometown pharmacy had on caring for the entire community. Pharmacy soon became my avenue to further my education in health sciences while also satisfying my desire to serve others,” Greer said.
Dr. Greer entered the UTHSC pharmacy program in fall 2018 after considering multiple other pharmacy programs. She said that UT’s distinction in their goals, standards, and history resonated with her and, throughout her experience at UTHSC, she had the honor of realizing how vital is a pharmacy to the wellbeing of a community. As a P2, she took a job at an independent pharmacy to gain experience but was discouraged at finding out, only six months later, that the owner was being forced to sell to a big chain. Undeterred, Greer took jobs at a long-term care facility and at a hospital, where she was able to continue her pharmacy work while maintaining her love for the independent, small-town pharmacy.
Greer said that attending the IPC conference provided her the tools to make her dream of owning her own small-town pharmacy a possibility. At the conference, she was able to discourse with other pharmacy entrepreneurs and listen to speakers address common issues that currently plague independent pharmacies, thus reinvigorating her zeal to someday establish her own independent pharmacy. “This opportunity to commune with other like-minded professionals, along with thirty other comrades, has been the perfect summit to my education at UTHSC and has helped prepare me to become a proud member of the next generation of pharmacy owners,” Greer said.
