Meet the TSP Chair: McKenzie Calhoun

In July 2015, McKenzie Calhoun, PharmD, of Johnson City, Tennessee, was installed as the 2015-2016 Chair of the Tennessee Society of Pharmacists (TSP), a Society of the Tennessee Pharmacists Association (TPA), at TPA’s 128th Annual Convention and Expo in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

What makes
McKenzie Calhoun
‘tick’? Click here!

Dr. Calhoun is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Family Medicine at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Gatton College of Pharmacy and Quillen College of Medicine, where she also completed her PGY2 residency in Ambulatory Care and Academia. She received her PharmD degree from ETSU Gatton College of Pharmacy and completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency with the Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System in Nashville.

Dr. Calhoun is the clinical pharmacist faculty member at ETSU Family Physicians of Kingsport. She is actively involved in the TPA, American Pharmacists Association (APhA), American College of Clinical Pharmacy Phi Lambda Sigma, and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. In 2011, she received the ETSU Gatton College of Pharmacy Baeteena M. Black Leadership Award and has been named Attending of the Year and Faculty of the Year by QCOM’s Family Medicine residents and Outstanding Preceptor by GCOP’s student pharmacists. Dr. Calhoun serves as faculty advisor for the ETSU APhA-Academy of Student Pharmacists chapter and advisor for ETSU’s Alpha Delta Pi sorority.

TPA members may contact Dr. Calhoun at 423-439-6249 or calhounml@etsu.edu.

As Chair of the Tennessee Society of Pharmacists, McKenzie also serves on the TPA Board of Directors. We asked her to answer five questions, to help members get to know her better. Here’s what she had to say:

1.	What is your pharmacy background?
	I’ve always looked up to my dad. So much so, that I told my kindergarten class I was going to be a clinical pharmacist, having no idea what that meant. However, I’m a bit stubborn, so I put my mind to becoming a clinical pharmacist all the way through high school, college, pharmacy school and residency. I earned my PharmD from the Gatton College of Pharmacy at ETSU before completing a PGY1 residency at Veterans Affairs TN Valley Healthcare System in Nashville, TN and a PGY2 in Ambulatory Care/Academia at ETSU. I then joined the faculty at the Gatton College of Pharmacy with an adjunct appointment in the College of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine. I’m a Family Medicine clinical pharmacist at ETSU Family Physicians of Kingsport, TN, where get to work with an amazing group of attending and resident physicians and an interprofessional team that cares for patients of all ages and acuity.
2.	What are your goals for this upcoming year?
	It’s an exciting time to be a pharmacist in the state of Tennessee! TSP is the “all comers” society, allowing us to have a unique variety of experience and expertise. Great progress was made last legislative session with the passing of collaborative practice legislation. As we expect to obtain Board of Pharmacy rules this year, we are preparing to help members enter into collaborative practice agreements and expand their practices. We took the initial step at TPA Annual convention with the inaugural Collaborative Practice/Ambulatory Care Educational Track. I hope everyone in attendance agrees with me that it was a great success, and I look forward to future opportunities to help all of our members raise their practice to the highest level possible.
3.	How has TPA influenced you to be a leader?
	The day I was asked to become ETSU’s first TSSP President, my journey in professional leadership development began. It was through the investment that TPA made in student pharmacists that has led to pharmacists like Leslie Shepard, Kenny Dyer and myself (all members of the inaugural TSSP executive committee) all remaining actively involved in TPA leadership. It is because of the mentorship of previous TPA leaders that has inspired me to strive to carry on their legacy.
4.	Who are some of your most influential mentors?
	Professionally, I have too many to count, but some who stand out include previous preceptors like Shawn McFarland, Tim Morgan, Brian Cross, Sarah Melton, and “living legends” (I’m sorry, but you all are!) like Baeteena Black, Roger Davis, Guy and Debra Wilson, David Allen, and Larry Calhoun. I also owe so much to my first professional mentor, the late Bettie Wilson. In “real life” Kathryn Kendall Calhoun, Pearl and Raymond Calhoun, Whitney Calhoun Goetz and a group of amazing close friends work tirelessly to keep me (mostly) sane and (mostly) on the straight and narrow.
5.	What do you like to do outside of pharmacy?
	Most of my free time is spent with family and friends. I’m advisor for Alpha Delta Pi sorority, so I get to spend quite a bit of time with roughly 150 young women who keep me on my toes and are helping prevent me from becoming old. I spend most Saturdays in the Fall in Knoxville watching my Vols, and I’m looking forward to cheering on the ETSU Bucs as we bring back football in 2015-16! I also became a marathoner last year and hope to add to my medal count this year.