Advanced Pharmacy Practice Education is available in Manteca under the guidance of skilled professionals.

A steady flow of pharmacy student interns take advantage of the six week sessions to practice alongside Doctors Hospital pharmacists and pharmacy technicians at the Manteca medical facility on East North Street at Cottage Avenue.

The program in Manteca is coordinated by veteran pharmacist and preceptor Ben Jo, Pharm.D. He provides the students a clear look into the demands and workings of a hospital environment.

Four of those interns who are about to complete a second session include U.S. Navy veteran Andrew Miller who worked on his education while serving in the military as a public affairs officer, Lindsay Noriega, 28, Kimberly Lam, 25,  and Kanwar Dhoot.

Jo noted that it is a unique opportunity to learn about hospital pharmacy practices from the technical side to the clinical side.  Beside the learning element they get to see the new technologies working with pharmacists day in and day out, he said.

“Ultimately this gives us the opportunity to see how it works and how it affects patient care,” Miller said. 

The Navy veteran and photographer chuckled when he compared the pharmacy to a Nikon D5 camera over a much less expensive version, the Nikon D50.

Noriega added, “I really care about people, and those I work with here are clearly for the patients and concerned about patient care.  What you learn here is to look at things more subjectively rather than objectively and look toward the patients as people.”

Kimberly Lam agreed, adding that in the smaller hospital environment they see more of the patients as people and not as numbers.  She had already interned at Kaiser in San Jose and San Mateo Medical Center.

Kanwar Dhoot said she just wants to make a difference in a clinical setting. 

“This is a very nurturing environment for learning,” she noted. “The techs who work here are very helpful as well as the pharmacists.”

The four pharmacy students hail for UOP Pharmacy School, Touro University in Vallejo  and UC Irvine in Southern California.