Dr. Kristina Leav (UTHSC COP c/o 2022) is a member of the inaugural cohort that completed the Medication Safety Scholars Program through a partnership with the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacist (ASHP) Foundation and the Emily Jerry Foundation.
According to the ASHP Foundation’s website, the Medication Safety Scholars is a distance impact program designed for pharmacy students to develop into leaders with advanced knowledge and skills in medication safety and quality improvement. Furthermore, the program’s goals are to educate and develop the leadership skills of the next generation of pharmacists.
Leav’s interest in medication safety was sparked by an introductory course she took in her first year of pharmacy school and grew even more during an IPPE with Dr. Mike Dejos at Methodist University.
“After the introductory class and IPPE, I began looking for opportunities to learn more about medication safety,” said Leav.
During the yearlong program, the cohort met with medication safety experts across the country to discuss the materials in the ASHP medication safety certificate course.
“We were able to ask them questions on specific modules of the course and meet them in person at the ASHP Summer Meeting to network with them further. We also got to work with Christopher Jerry and the Emily Jerry Foundation, as they were sponsors of the program. Hearing his daughter’s story was so powerful and has prompted many health care providers to dedicate their lives to patient safety,” Leav said of her experience in the program.
Leav said this program allowed her to connect with medication safety experts from across the country and helped her gain a new perspective on how to apply medication safety concepts. “Every pharmacist has a role in medication and patient safety, and I appreciated the opportunity to work with other students who were passionate about medication safety,” said Leav.
She encourages students to share their interests with the faculty and actively seek out opportunities to expand their perspectives.
“I appreciate the school helping to connect their students to programs like this one. I heard about the program from an email and applied somewhat last minute,” said Leav.
As for her future career plans, Leav is currently a PGY-1 pharmacy resident at Regional One Health in Memphis, TN. She has also early committed to the PGY-2 Critical Care pharmacy residency program at Regional One and looks forward to taking the concepts that she learned in this experience to advocate for critically ill patients.
