The Florida Pharmacy Association has recognized a Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy alumna and a professor with two of its top awards.
Dr. Sarah Reeg Haley Pharm.D. ’15, a Walgreen’s pharmacist in Tampa, Florida, was honored with the Pharmacists Mutual Distinguished Young Pharmacist Award for her early-career involvement and dedication to the pharmacy profession.
Dr. Erin Dorval — one of Haley’s mentors and an assistant professor of pharmacy practice — was honored with the association’s Jean Lamberti Mentorship Award. The award recognizes a pharmacist who has shared his or her knowledge and experience with pharmacist candidates. Dorval directs the Gregory School of Pharmacy’s community pharmacy residency.
The association also recognized student-pharmacist Elizabeth Davis as recipient of the Terry Gubbins Student Leadership Award. The association’s members nominate their peers for the awards, which were presented during a program in Fort Lauderdale.
Gregory School of Pharmacy faculty helped Haley flourish, she said. They wanted to see her excel in pharmacy school and beyond.
“I definitely had some cheerleaders, particularly Dr. Dorval, who took a personal interest in my growth, development and the opportunities that I would have,” Haley said.
Dr. Erin Dorval, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, was honored with the Florida Pharmacy Association’s Jean Lamberti Mentorship Award. She was a mentor for Dr. Sarah Haley, a Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy alumna who earned the Pharmacists Mutual Distinguished Young Pharmacist Award.Haley is paying it forward. She serves as a new practitioner mentor to the University of South Florida College of Pharmacy, providing professional development presentations, preparing students for legislative advocacy and volunteering at health fairs and community outreach events.
She guides students in legislative advocacy visits at Florida Pharmacy Legislative Days in Tallahassee — a passion she developed as a Gregory School of Pharmacy student. She realized the legislators who were regulating the pharmacy profession hadn’t had much exposure to it.
In her final year of pharmacy school, legislators passed a bill into law that she had been advocating for since she started. The law allowed pharmacists to give additional types of vaccinations, including those for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and pneumococcal infections, to adults.
At last year’s FPA annual meeting, Haley proposed a new practitioner mentor program — a proposal the association embraced. Her vision is for practicing pharmacists who live near pharmacy schools to be a mentor to students and to create an FPA presence on campus.
“What keeps my passion going is giving back to the students,” Haley said.
Additionally, Haley has worked with student pharmacists from the University of South Florida to film and promote an FPA membership video series. She’s published articles about mentorship and precepting in Florida Pharmacy Today and the American Pharmacists Association’s Student Pharmacist magazine.
As a pharmacy manager in Clearwater, Florida, Haley trained and mentored graduate interns. She has volunteered as a community pharmacy preceptor for both introductory and advanced pharmacy practice experiences.
She and her husband, a cardiac ICU pharmacist at Tampa General Hospital, attend Radiant Church in Tampa.
