Susie Bostdorff knows she’s in the right place. An outpatient pharmacy resident at The University of Toledo Medical Center, Bostdorff is more than happy to get to work every day.
“It’s not every day that you find a place that you work where you just truly love working with each person in there and you have a great experience no matter what you’re doing,” she said.
As happy as she is, though, she didn’t expect to ever work in the world of pharmacy. She began her undergraduate studies just hoping to find somewhere — anywhere — where she’d fit in the healthcare industry.
Susie Bostdorff, an outpatient pharmacy resident at The University of Toledo Medical Center, said, “It’s kind of like a dream program for me.”
“At first, I shadowed anybody who would let me in the healthcare field,” she said. “I shadowed doctors, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, nurses — just anybody trying to figure out where I wanted to go.”
That place turned out to be UToledo’s pharmacy, which, in turn, led to her residency at UTMC. Why? One word: relationships. Now after studying pharmacy as an undergrad and proceeding through the Pharm.D. program and into residency, she’s been able to build relationships at every step.
“It’s kind of like a dream program for me,” she said. “I’ve been able to continue working with everyone I’ve worked with for the last four years, we’re going on five years now, so I’ve been able to strengthen those relationships.”
Her relationships involve more than the other medical professionals she works with. Bostdorff also enjoys building relationships with her patients, some of whom she’s been able to work with closely for months.
“I have about 20 patients in every clinic that I’m in that I have a relationship with and that I’ve been following since the end of June, tracking their care and making changes to their medication and trying to do the best overall thing for them,” she said. “And that’s been the best thing, getting to know those patients and building a relationship with them.”
Bostdorff credits her development as a pharmacist to her mentors at UTMC and throughout the pharmacy program. One such mentor is Megan Sizemore, an outpatient clinical pharmacist at UTMC who Bostdorff credits as the “backbone” of her journey through pharmacy school. The respect is mutual. Sizemore says Bostdorff will be an asset to the medical community.
“She is passionate about patient care and will always work hard to come up with innovative solutions to problems,” Sizemore said. “Susie is always willing to take the extra time to make sure that patients receive not only their medications but also any education that they may benefit from. She is not afraid to point out problems with our current system and always tries to brainstorm possible solutions.”
Discovering those possible solutions will be a big part of Bostdorff’s next step. She’ll soon enter the professional world, and she’s hoping to find a way to marry several of her most important interests.
“There’s kind of a niche where I think a diabetic-certified pharmacist or a diabetic educator-certified pharmacist would be a great addition to our pharmacy team,” she said. “I’m hoping to fill that niche.”
