Preceptor Spotlight: Kimberly Porter, PharmD, BCPS

03/23/20

Categories: Preceptor Pride

We spoke with Kimberly Porter, PharmD, BCPS, who is a preceptor at Trumbull Regional Medical Center.

what advice and tips do you have for new students or young professionals about starting careers?

Have an open mind and evaluate all the various opportunities available to you. You never know where you may end up. Case and point: I absolutely HATED infectious disease while in school. I didn’t understand it and I didn’t like it one bit! I reluctantly familiarized myself with it because it’s one specialty that’s everywhere! Fast forward 15 years – I now am in charge of Antimicrobial Stewardship for a 36 hospital system!

Always remember that the patient is your top priority. I often see many health care professionals forget that unfortunately. It’s not about who’s job it is – or how busy you are. What matters is taking care of the patient. Do what you need to do to help the patient, no matter what!

It’s all about relationships. You can be the smartest kid in your class but at the end of the day if you are rude and condescending to a physician, they will NEVER listen to you again! The more you interact and form positive relationships with other members of the healthcare team, the more likely they will be to trust you and accept your feedback.

what is your philosophy on the practice of pharmacy?

The only thing that you can be sure about the practice of pharmacy is that it is always changing and evolving. You have to be able to adapt to that change and embrace it. With technology advances, we are constantly having to find new ways to keep ourselves relevant. We need to keep learning, keep thinking outside the box, keep finding new ways to become involved.

what positive attributes do students provide your site?

Most of the students are really eager to learn and will go above and beyond to do so. It’s nice to see that excitement in their eyes when they see complex patients in the ICU and are able to relate it to what they’ve learned in class.