CONNECTING PATIENTS WITH PHARMACISTS

Q&A with Phuong “Sophie” Le ’12

By Megan Tady

Phuong “Sophie” Le has been in the pharmacy setting for over 10 years. On summer breaks while attending Berkshire, she worked in pharmacies in her hometown of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. She went on to earn a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. Along the way, she noticed a disconnect between patients and pharmacists. Patients need more information about their medications and healthcare, and pharmacists have the answers—but their role is often reduced to simply filling prescriptions. An entrepreneur at heart—her team was awarded Berkshire’s inaugural Sabin Prize in 2012—Le co-founded ImpactPharm in 2021. The startup aims to connect patients directly with pharmacists through an app, cultivating a community approach to healthcare. Le has participated in several accelerator programs geared toward seed and early-stage startups, including the Founder Institute and Women Founders’ Project, and in November 2022, ImpactPharm was featured on an episode of Bloomberg’s “Advancements with Ted Danson.” Le lives with her husband, Evan Brown, in Minneapolis, and their two lop-eared rabbits, Maxwell and Shiloh. This winter, she returned to Berkshire to teach a Pro Vita course called Entrepreneurship 101.

How do you describe ImpactPharm?

We connect patients with licensed pharmacists so that patients can get their questions answered in a timely and accurate manner, removing the confusion that often comes from searching online for the same answers. Dispensing medications is not the only role that pharmacists can play. They can actually counsel patients. In the long run, this might help patients develop better and healthier habits so that they can take fewer medications while improving their health.

What inspired you to start ImpactPharm?

When I worked in pharmacies in Ho Chi Minh City, I saw a supply/ demand mismatch for patients and pharmacists. Patients felt unseen and unheard, while the pharmacy staff members experienced chronic burnout, creating an exodus of pharmacists and technicians from the community pharmacy setting. My dad recalled how rewarding it was to work at my grandfather’s community pharmacy during the ’70s and ’80s. At the time, a pharmacy was the cornerstone of the community, and my grandfather collaborated with physicians and nurses in town to help patients and give them the care that they needed. ImpactPharm can eliminate the geographical barriers, enabling patients to gain quick access to a licensed pharmacist.

What impact do you want ImpactPharm to have on healthcare?

We want to meet the healthcare needs of the community by matching the patient with the pharmacy—not only pharmacy members, but also the rest of the healthcare team in that particular area. Secondly, we want to be scalable, repeating this process so we can serve as many communities as possible, both in the U.S. and around the world. And thirdly—this is a very Berkshire thing— we want to be sustainable, balancing profitability with a social mission. For every recurring consultation service purchase, ImpactPharm will donate a similar service to a person in need in the same community. This is something we’re looking to implement in the future.

What’s challenging about getting a startup off the ground?

I have very little finance background. I’m a science major, not a business major, so this journey has been very eye-opening for me. The upside is that I have a great co-founder and a team of advisors and mentors. The company probably wouldn’t be here without their help over the years.

What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?

Be selective about what accelerators you work with. Some accelerators might take a certain equity in your startup in exchange for a low cost. When you’re choosing an accelerator, talk to as many people as possible who have joined and graduated from those programs.

What brought you to Berkshire?

My parents and I were looking for boarding schools that would provide an excellent education, a commitment to sustainability, and the possibility of lifelong friends. My parents made a huge sacrifice, selling our childhood home so that we could afford Berkshire. This was a huge investment in me, and for a long time, I didn’t know if it was going to be worth it. But things have been working out, and I was able to do really well at Berkshire and beyond. impactpharm.app

How did your Berkshire experience impact your career path?

Berkshire trained me to be very proactive, ask great questions, and try to understand the landscape before I dive into any particular project. When I won the Sabin Prize, I worked with a group of three male students. I learned how to collaborate with people who had different points of view and different backgrounds. We created an end-to-end dorm room design and moving service so students and parents can be fully present for each other during a critical time of transition. We were able to come together to create a common vision and a sound business plan within a short amount of time.

What was it like to return to campus to teach a Pro Vita class?

I actually learned about entrepreneurship from a different Berkshire alum, Joe Geiger ’56, who taught a Pro Vita class. He wrote a book about his business, and it was the first time that I learned about entrepreneurship. I just thought it meant owning your own business, but he talked about scaling quickly and gathering a good team. So teaching a Pro Vita course now is like coming full circle.

Le taught a Pro Vita course on entrepreneurship at Berkshire this year, handing out Gary Nealon’s book “Notes to a Young Entrepreneur.”