Emily Hanners Dunn, Pharm.D., BCPS, is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Retzky College of Pharmacy. She earned her Pharm.D. degree from UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy, where she also completed a postgraduate acute care pharmacy practice residency and earned teaching and research certificates.

In her current position, Hanners is responsible for maintaining scholarly and service activities, which include didactic and experiential teaching, research, clinical service, and national/state/local organization involvement. In addition to her academic role, she practices as an internal medicine clinical pharmacist at the University of Illinois Hospital. In the experiential setting, she is a preceptor for pharmacy students and residents alike. Reflecting on her own pharmacy journey, Hanners’ passion for precepting began with a past preceptor who changed the trajectory of her career path:

This preceptor took the time to tell me how much potential they saw in me early in my fourth-year rotations and reassured me that I would make a great clinical pharmacist one day. Until that moment, I had questioned my abilities and didn’t have the confidence I needed to apply to residencies. This preceptor dedicated countless hours to building my fundamental clinical pharmacy skills that I still credit to them to this day.

The preceptor, she states, continues to build confidence in her trainees through serving as a “mentor to my students and helping them navigate the many decisions and emotions that come with P4 year.”

Within ACCP, Hanners serves as a leader in the Adult Medicine PRN, where she is currently the vice chair of the Communications Committee. She encourages ACCP members to:

Engage your learners (students and residents) with their PRN of interest, encourage them to sign up for a clinical pearls, grand rounds, or journal club presentation within the PRN with the patient case or journal club that they already completed on your rotation. This not only enhances participation from learners in the PRNs but also builds a mentorship/trust between you and the learner. Lastly, I encourage you to forward travel award grants to learners that you think are interested in attending an ACCP Annual Meeting. The future generation of pharmacists and ACCP members are our current learners and ACCP provides a network of opportunities for all.

To incorporate advocacy into her daily practice, Hanners applies her experience from growing up in a rural, small town where access to health care and pharmacies was scarce. She takes pride in her transition of care practices, ensuring patients have access to necessary medications. She continues to advocate for the profession of pharmacy and encourages learners to do the same:

I think it is important for me to be involved and advocate for our fight for provider status, but I think it is equally important to help fight with my colleagues even if it may not directly impact my job. I try to keep our patients in mind and understand that regulatory and legislative decisions made at any level affecting our field directly impact our patients.

In addition to her advocacy efforts while educating and mentoring the next generation of pharmacists, Hanners is excited for her next adventure welcoming a baby boy to her family in April!