Emily Benefield, Pharm.D., BCPS, an alumna of Washington State University, is the PGY1 residency site coordinator and advanced clinical pharmacist in the pediatric/cardiac intensive care units (PICUs/CICUs) at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Benefield was introduced to clinical pharmacy while shadowing at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital (YVMH) during her senior year of high school. This was the first of her many interactions with Dr. Dennis Hoover, the director of pharmacy, and Dr. Carol Vanevenhoven, a junior clinical pharmacist. At YVMH, Drs. Hoover and Vanevenhoven taught her that the practice of clinical pharmacy uses high-level math and science skills in the provision of patient care. Two years after that initial meeting, Dr. Benefield was hired as an intern at YVMH, thus beginning her path to becoming a clinical pharmacist. Over this period, Dr. Benefield was taught the basics of pharmacy, which grew into clinical abilities, thanks to the clinical pharmacy mentors at YVMH and her exposure to the residency program there. Moreover, although Dr. Benefield knew her career path would lead her to postgraduate training before becoming a clinical pharmacist, she had no idea this path would eventually lead her to pediatrics.

Dr. Benefield was drawn to pediatrics because of her lack of confidence and knowledge in the specialty. Hence, to better herself, she sought out every advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) in pediatrics available so that she could learn more about pediatric disease states and their relationship to pharmacotherapy. Because of the paucity of data for most pediatric drug treatments, the pediatric clinical pharmacist as the drug therapy expert is an integral member of the interdisciplinary health care team.

After graduating with a Pharm.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy, Dr. Benefield began her PGY1 training at the under the direction of Winter Smith, Pharm.D., BCPS. During her first year there, Dr. Benefield found her love and passion for pediatric pharmacotherapy. This led her to further pursue a PGY2 pediatric pharmacy residency with Tracy Hagemann, Pharm.D., FCCP, FPPAG, also at the University of Oklahoma.

After completing her residency, Dr. Benefield began her career as a clinical pharmacist at Intermountain Healthcare - Primary Children’s Hospital, a 289-bed freestanding pediatric referral center for Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Nevada. Serving such a large geographic area, Primary Children’s Hospital has a high-acuity patient population, adding to the excitement of working in the pediatric referral center. Dr. Benefield participates in daily multidisciplinary rounds with faculty and residents in the University of Utah Department of Pediatrics, attends all respiratory and cardiac resuscitations, contributes to trauma stabilizations, and provides support for ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) cannulations on the PICU and CICU teams. She works with an accomplished team of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, respiratory therapists, dietitians, and critical care technicians to provide the best possible care to the children of the Intermountain West.

Dr. Benefield became the residency site coordinator for the PGY1 pharmacy residency at Primary Children’s Hospital about 2 years ago. Primary Children’s has 3 of the 10 PGY1 pharmacy residents within the four sites of the Intermountain Healthcare residency program, all of whom have opportunities to participate in elective learning experiences at the pediatric facility. She also serves as a preceptor for the PICU learning experience offered to APPE students and PGY1 and PGY2 residents in the Salt Lake City area. Dr. Benefield finds daily fulfillment in the challenges of training the up-and-coming minds of pediatric clinical pharmacy.

One of most important mentors in Dr. Benefield’s career is Dr. Tracy Hagemann, former PGY2 pediatric residency director at the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy. Dr. Hagemann is not only a great professional example, but she also truly focuses on Dr. Benefield’s overall development. Dr. Benefield is very grateful for Dr. Hagemann’s understanding of the importance of having balance in life. Indeed, only with this guidance was Dr. Benefield able to make some professional sacrifices to move to Utah for the love of family and the outdoor things she loves, such as running, hiking, and snowboarding. Dr. Benefield has no regrets about the decision, as she has been able to mold her position to include leadership, clinical, and research opportunities while serving as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy. With the support of the pediatric pharmacy faculty at the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Benefield has been able to go much farther than she ever imagined in her early years as a practitioner. Although it isn’t easy to find a work-life balance, Dr. Benefield recommends that young practitioners take the time to find the right personal balance for themselves.