Pharmacy Perspectives - Summer/Fall 2013 - (Page 9)

ENCORE CAREER AWAITS BY V ICK I HILDNER It took energy and determination for Diane Banet to work her way up the ladder at King Soopers, from courtesy clerk to store manager. She might still be managing a grocery store had she not been asked to supervise inventory in the store’s pharmacy. When customers came to the counter, they assumed she could help them. T hey would ask ‘What can you take for a cold or allergies?’” said Banet. “I couldn’t answer them. I would have to point to the pharmacist.” Saying “I don’t know” went against Banet’s take-charge, can-do approach to life. Even though she had only a high school diploma (“I didn’t even take any science classes.”) and four children born within five years (“It sure felt like I was pregnant for a really long time!”), Banet started to think that maybe she should return to school to become a pharmacist. She was 41 years old. “I was a good store manager, but I knew I couldn’t do it for another 30 years,” she said. Ten years later, on May 24, 2013, 51-year-old Diane Banet, PharmD, accepted her diploma from the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, surrounded by her fan club: her husband, her children, her grandchild, her siblings and her 90-year-old mother. “I see an awful lot of people taking drugs for depression because they hate their jobs or they hate their lives, but they don’t do anything about it,” said Banet. “If you want something different, you have to go for it and have the commitment to do it. And apparently, I did.” For Banet, the journey to commencement at CU Anschutz started at Arapahoe Community College, where she picked up college courses part-time while she continued to work full-time. When it came time to apply to pharmacy school, relocating was not an option. “If I couldn’t do it at CU, it wouldn’t get done,” she said. Applying to attend school on the Anschutz Medical Campus carried special significance for Banet. The only one of six siblings to attend college, she grew up across from the campus in Hoffman Heights and remembers visiting patients in Building 500 back when it was still a hospital. “This is my hood,” she said. Banet decided to give herself three attempts to be admitted. The first year, her application was denied. The second year, she was wait-listed and then finally, accepted. Suddenly she found herself back in school with classmates who were her children’s age. “I struggled with full-time school,” she said. “I hadn’t done it for 30 years.” She knew that, no matter how hard she worked, she would need help. She and other older students found the “smart kids” in the class and enlisted them as tutors. In particular, Banet credits fellow graduate Samantha Spencer for helping her get through four years of school. “I owe her more than I can ever tell you,” she said. “We will be friends for life.” Throughout the past four years, Banet worked as a pharmacy intern with King Soopers, and now she is a full-time pharmacist there. And, when customers come to the counter, she's the one with the answers. Erin Perling is all smiles during commencement. have to decide whose graduation to attend as the ceremonies were one week apart! The Perling entourage experienced a two-week celebratory tour through Texas and Colorado. Newly minted Dr. Chris arrived in Denver just in time to hood his sister during our commencement ceremony. Chris and Erin both started undergrad pursuing pre-pharmacy, but once in school chose different paths; Chris in medicinal chemistry and Erin history. Eventually both circled back to their first love – pharmacy. Erin’s passion lies in clinical pharmacy, especially solid organ transplantation. After graduation she was off to a PGY1 residency at Yale New Haven, where a top transplant pharmacist is in residence. Justin Markham is the latest of the Markham family to be brought into the pharmacy fold. His identical twin, Luke, graduated from our program last year. No stranger to the field, Justin’s parents are both Colorado pharmacists. And, his father, Paul, (CU ‘91) is currently enrolled in our Distance Degree Program. As Justin says, “You can imagine what we talk about at dinner!” Amazingly enough, both Justin and Luke didn’t consider pharmacy during their undergraduate years. In fact, both studied international affairs… at different colleges. “We both independently chose pharmacy as a back-up plan, but soon discovered a natural fit.” Post graduation, Justin will be in a PGY1 residency at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del. www.ucdenver.edu/pharmacy 9 http://www.ucdenver.edu/pharmacy

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pharmacy Perspectives - Summer/Fall 2013

Pharmacy Perspectives - Summer/Fall 2013
Contents
School News Pharmacist Hunter
Research Collaborations Across Generations
Student News Habitat for Humanity
Graduation - In Depth Coverage
Alumni News Jack of All Trades

Pharmacy Perspectives - Summer/Fall 2013