UTEP Alum Supports Future Pharmacists Through Preceptorships
By Julia Hettiger
UTEP Marketing and Communications
As a UTEP alumnus and pharmacist with Albertsons, Alejandro Perez remains connected to the university that helped propel his career. Through his work as a preceptor with the School of Pharmacy, he is helping future generations prepare for careers as pharmacists.
“We’re so grateful to have Alejandro Perez as one of our many preceptors,” said José O. Rivera, Pharm.D., founding dean of UTEP’s School of Pharmacy. “His unique knowledge and talent will be an asset to many of our students for years to come.”
Beginning in their fourth year, School of Pharmacy students complete preceptorships, which essentially serve as six-week clinical rotations that provide real-world experience they can apply directly to their careers. As a preceptor, Perez provides guidance to UTEP students and challenges them to learn all they can about the world of pharmacy.
“As a preceptor, I try to teach my students how to solve problems,” Perez said. “Say you have a doctor write a prescription, but they forget to write the quantity or maybe the directions are a little bit off. I test my students with following up with these calls and having a solution prepared for the doctor’s office. At a pharmacy, you see hundreds of prescriptions daily. So, even a minor thing like that can delay you so much. I work with my students to create simple solutions to these problems.”
Though being a pharmacist keeps Perez busy, he made the decision to serve as a preceptor for UTEP because of his own experiences with his preceptor in school.
“I made it a point to be a preceptor because I wanted to make a difference in the students’ lives and to give them somebody they can talk to,” Perez said. “I have students who have already graduated, and they’ll come talk to me and ask me for advice. Preceptors really make an impact on you.”
As a pharmacist with Albertsons, Perez works specifically with medication therapy management calls for the whole district. Through these calls, he communicates with patients to ensure they are taking the medications the way they are prescribed.
“Through medication therapy, I ensure patients take their medications the way they’re supposed to, and I check for potential medical interactions, safety and patient concerns, and adherence barriers,” Perez said. “It’s been incredibly rewarding being able to help the people. It feels awesome at the end of the day. I’ve had patients who literally started crying because I was able to help them find affordable solutions to their problems.”
Perez initially earned an emergency medical technician (EMT) certification, but while being able to support people in this way was fulfilling, Perez realized that such a high-stress, high-urgency job wasn’t right for him and decided to transition into pharmacy. As a student at UTEP’s School of Pharmacy, he took advantage of every opportunity to learn and grow, including completing a study away program in Presidio, Texas. In this small town in West Texas, Perez learned what it was like for individuals to live in a small place that has only one physician available to support their medical needs – experience that he applies directly to his current role working with underserved populations and in working with students as a preceptor.
“The School of Pharmacy is very culturally oriented,” Perez said. “They prepare you a lot. What you will see in [the El Paso] area is you work with underserved communities – people who ae experiencing homelessness, people who have language barriers. The school does an excellent job preparing you to be ready when you see these [challenges] and to have the resources to find solutions for your patients.”
To learn more about UTEP’s School of Pharmacy, visit www.utep.edu/pharmacy.