As a healthcare training school, Ross Medical Education Center puts the utmost importance on student success. Every student that successfully completes their program and begins working in the field is a reason to celebrate. It’s especially exciting when they head back to their campus to share with future healthcare professionals about their experience both in the classroom and in the field. Some of the people that are the most proud of former students are their instructors.
Jake Baudoux, a former student of Kate O’Malley, lead instructor for the Pharmacy Technician program at the Ross campus in Davison, Michigan, came in to talk to students about working in the pharmacy field. He explained the steps he took as an entry level technician to work his way up in his field. Through hard work and dedication, he is now working in an emergency room at a hospital in Clearwater, Florida. One of the main things he did to make himself more qualified is to become a Certified Pharmacy Technician shortly after he graduated.
Several times in his presentation, Jake suggested that everyone start in the retail arena before making the move into more specialized areas. He shared that retail will help you to establish yourself and hone the skills needed for furthering your career. He knew from the beginning that he wanted to work in a hospital, but he didn’t start out there. Jake has worked for two of the largest retail pharmacies, as well as two well-known national long term care pharmacies in Florida. He is now enrolled as a pharmacy doctorate student and plans on becoming a pharmacist.
Kate O’Malley was excited to hear from her former student and have her current students get a little bit of inspiration for their futures. “As always, it was a pleasure having a former student come back and talk to a class about possibilities that are in front of our students,” she shared. “The class was very willing to ask a ton of questions as they are winding down their school and will be heading out on externship at the end of their next module.”