Anna received her Associate Degree in Business Data Processing from the Community College of Allegheny County in 1986. She joined the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy in April 1990. In her early years, Anna was course support for eight faculty members, including formatting handouts and assisting with class preparation; answering the main School of Pharmacy phone line, copying the student externship manual on the dreaded mimeograph machine, and directing staff, faculty, students, and families to their destinations. Anna was once said to have the “pulse†of pharmacy in her hands.
In 1995, Anna was promoted from Secretary III to an Administrator I and became the liaison to all students, preceptors, and faculty within the Experiential Learning (EL) Program. She coordinated rotation placements for students in all years of the B.S., and eventually the PharmD Program. Anna was responsible for handling day-to-day operations of the EL Program. While continuing to support multiple faculty members, Anna’s specific duties included, but were not limited to:
• Maintain student immunizations and CPR certifications for acceptance to learning sites.
• Ensure student criminal background checks and clearances are up to date prior to students starting rotations.
• Work with preceptors for proper student access to learning sites, including electronic health record access, and/or ID badges, following site guidance and HIPAA
• Compose and generate correspondence to new and existing preceptors and keep open channels of communication for any student and/or preceptor needs
• Ensure proper placement of students with their individual preceptors and sites, including detailed use of communication and scheduling rotation management system and/or preceptor letters.
• Review affiliation agreements with institutional sites and Office of University Counsel and Risk Management as needed
• Maintain the E*Value and CastleBranch databases for the EL Program, including site and preceptor profiles (new and existing information)
• Navigate other institutions onboarding platforms i.e., AHN’s myClinical Exchange, Cleveland Clinic’s attestation process, St. Luke’s attestation process. Ensuring student compliance.
• Generate preceptor certificates and letters of recognition/appreciation for over 650 active preceptors.
• Facilitated student shadowing experiences
In July 2001, Anna was promoted to Administrator II and currently supervises one full-time EL Specialist employee. Anna continues in the role above, and additionally facilitates the underserved clinic opportunities, CPR training courses (new and renewal), Pitt Health Connection Hub volunteering, and service learning site placements via collaboration with faculty and external client communication.
