Member Spotlight

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Kyeshia Ward Pharm.D. Dean’s Pharmacy #3 Marianna

Pharmacy/academic practice: Community Pharmacy

Pharmacy school and graduation year: Harding University, Class of 2019

Years in business/years teaching: 1st year

Favorite part of the job and why: My favorite part of my job is working with patients daily. From answering OTC questions to completing medication reviews, each of my patients is different and allows me to serve them.

Least favorite part of the job and why: My least favorite part of the job is dealing with insurance. It is hard to tell a patient a medication is not covered by insurance or the patient has to pay a large amount of money for life saving drugs. It is also hard when the pharmacy loses money due to insurance, but it is medicine that the patient must have.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges for

pharmacists in the next five years? In the next five years, the biggest problem will be dealing with unfair insurance pricing. So many pharmacies struggle when they are being paid below cost for drugs. Prayerfully, this will change with upcoming hearings and legislation.

Oddest request from a patient/customer: The oddest request I have had from a patient is for a medication to increase stomach acid. The patient thought that her omeprazole had eliminated too much acid and caused her stomach discomfort.

Recent books read: The last book I read was Nineteen Minutes.

Favorite activities/hobbies: My favorite activity is working on my nonprofit H.E.L.P.- Helping Everyone Learn Possibilities. It is a nonprofit to help youth in my community gain exposure to places and activities outside of Phillips County. It also exposes the youth to healthcare occupations both clinical and nonclinical.

Ideal dinner guests: Ideal dinner guests would be Ellen Degeneres and the Obamas. Ellen is so giving and honest and I would love to talk to her about all of the charity work she does. The Obamas are two educated individuals who have been in one of the highest positions in the country. I would love to personally speak to them about lessons learned from the experience.

If not a pharmacist then…: I would be a teacher. Before attending pharmacy school, I was a high school chemistry teacher. I love assisting the community and being a teacher is a great way to give back to my community as well as help shape the minds of the youth.

Why should a pharmacist or student in Arkansas be an active member of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association?

The Arkansas Pharmacists Association allows pharmacists across the state to network. On my first rotation of P4 year, I had the opportunity to work the APA convention and meet many pharmacists from all over the state. During this time, I was able to meet and network with Dean & Karen Watts who are my current employers. §