February 24, 2009
The College
of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions is committed to
ongoing education for its students in the form of the “Lunch with a
Leader” Series (sponsored by Rite-Aid). On February 3, 2009, Vickie
Powell, Site Director of Pharmacy at New York-Presbyterian Hospital
came to the Dr. Andrew J. Bartilucci Health Education Resource
Center to speak with pharmacy students and faculty on the topic,
“Who Needs a Mentor?”
Over 100 participants came to hear her presentation and
from the evaluations they were more than happy that they did.
With the aid of a PowerPoint presentation on “The Power of
Mentoring,” Vickie demonstrated to her audience that to be a mentor
and to be mentored are two very powerful ways to achieve success in
the field of pharmacy. Mentoring is a lead-in to involvement which
helps an organization achieve success. Vickie was very passionate
in convincing students to join pharmacy-related
organizations.
Vickie defined a mentor saying that “A mentor is a leader; a
teacher; a counselor; a coach; a listener and a friend.” She
pointed out that a good mentor also needs, “strong interpersonal
skills; technical competence; patience; and trustworthiness.” These
qualities need to be coupled with “a non-judgmental attitude; a
belief in life-long learning; some skill in providing instructional
support and finally good listening skills.” In defining who needs a
mentor, she said, “everybody does!” “If you want to learn from the
life stories and successes of others you need a mentor.”
When mentoring a person, Vickie said that “you should look
for the tiniest spark and try to ignite the spark into a big
flame.” Drawing from the philosophy of the book entitled Fish by
Stephen C. Lundin Ph.D., Harry Paul and John Christensen, Vickie
encouraged potential mentors to “choose your attitude and that
includes speaking from the heart and providing motivation to those
you are mentoring. Reach for the stars! The stars represent your
mentees. Encourage them to mentor others, and always remember that
you learn from your mentees too. The circle of mentoring never
ends,” she said. “A strong circle of mentoring will allow whatever
organization you are part of to thrive.”
Upcoming Lunch with a Leader events for Pharmacy students are from
12:15-1:30 p.m. at HERC and will include:
- “Forming Partnerships to Address Environmental Health Issues”
with Dr. Mark Maddaloni, on March 3, 2009, sponsored by the
Toxicology Program
- “Senior Care Pharmacy, Today’s Opportunity, Tomorrow’s
Imperative,” with faculty member Dr. Judith Beizer, on March 24,
2009