Annual teaching awards for 2023-2024

Every year, each doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) class bestows the following teaching awards on their instructors and their preceptors.

• Teachers of the Year
• Preceptors of the Year, IPPEs
• Long Teaching Awards for Outstanding Preceptors, APPEs
• Experiential Education Sites of the Year, APPEs
• Dean’s Apple Teaching Awards
• Apples for Preceptors Awards

Teachers of the Year

Preceptors of the Year, IPPEs

Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs)

Class of 2024 Health Systems Pharmacy Longitudinal

Lana Dongses, PharmD
UCSF Medical Center

Dongses is a dedicated and effective preceptor who deeply cares about her students’ learning experiences. She is a positive role model and always makes students feel appreciated and valued on rotation. Dongses’ ability to inspire critical thinking and practical application of knowledge through patient cases, coupled with her willingness to provide additional support, including answering questions and teaching what to expect on board exams, has helped her students excel.

Class of 2025 Community Pharmacy

Kimberly Yeung, PharmD
CVS

Yeung’s role as an effective educator and mentor is instrumental in the growth and development of her students and staff, providing tailored training to meet their needs. Yeung consistently upholds the highest standards as a preceptor by providing positive and constructive feedback to ensure personal and professional development of her students. Demonstrating exceptional integrity and emotional intelligence, she fosters robust connections within her team, students, and patients alike.

Class of 2024 Summer Concentrated Health Systems Pharmacy

Claire Bainbridge, PharmD
UCSF Health

Bainbridge cultivates a supportive and inclusive learning atmosphere, where students feel empowered to inquire and navigate their rotations with confidence. Her encouragement of independent problem-solving and provision of ongoing resources are commendable, reflecting her commitment to student growth. Bainbridge serves as an exemplary role model, illuminating the diverse roles within the field of pharmacy.

Long Teaching Awards for Outstanding Preceptors, APPEs

Class of 2024 Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) Site Preceptors of the Year

The Long Teaching Award is given to preceptors whom students select as outstanding clinical educators. These preceptors are recognized for applying knowledge of the basic health sciences to patient care, ensuring educational opportunities for students, and delivering the highest quality care for patients.

Fresno: Eva Escobedo, Kaweah Health

Eva Escobedo’s unwavering commitment to fostering a supportive learning environment, promoting critical thinking, and providing compassionate guidance truly exemplify the qualities of an exceptional educator. Escobedo’s praiseworthy teaching style, approachability, and outstanding patient interaction skills, not only inspire confidence but also serve as a model for an ideal pharmacist. It is inspiring to see her role as an educator extend beyond pharmacy, and learn from her interprofessional practice on how to collaborate with different professions to improve health outcomes. Her dedication to students’ professional development, along with her empathetic approach to teaching, leave a lasting impact on the professional journey of her learners.

Greater Sacramento: Candace Chan, Sutter Roseville Medical Center

Candace Chan stands out as an exemplary pharmacist, embodying professionalism, kindness, and advocacy for patients. Colleagues across all levels of the medical team consistently turned to her for guidance on medication-related matters. She not only taught the importance of patient advocacy but also demonstrated it by supporting colleagues through challenging situations, emphasizing the significance of recommendations for patient welfare. Candace’s mentorship style fostered a supportive learning environment, characterized by attentiveness, constructive feedback, and encouragement to think holistically about patient care. Her impact extended beyond clinical expertise, as she prioritized mental health check-ins and facilitated professional growth. She was always invested in students’ learning and consistently provided her undivided attention. Candace’s dedication to her role as a pharmacist serves as a model for aspiring professionals, reflecting the profound impact of her compassionate and knowledgeable approach.

Southern California: Nicola (Nicky) Cooper, Hoag Hospital

Nicky Cooper exemplifies the definition of a great role model for student pharmacists, characterized by her exceptional work ethic, profound passion for pharmacy, and interactions with others. In her role as a preceptor, Cooper demonstrates patience, understanding, and a steadfast commitment to encouraging students to maximize their learning opportunities throughout the rotation. Despite the demands of her schedule, she consistently prioritizes making time to mentor and support students. Cooper’s positive demeanor, genuine concern for others, and unwavering work ethic serve as catalysts for motivation among those in her midst, fostering collaboration and inspiring everyone to strive for excellence in their endeavors. Cooper’s leadership within the inpatient pharmacy stands as the cornerstone of the facility’s productive workflow and the creation of a healthy, inclusive work environment.

North Bay: Nicole Heeney, Sutter Medical Center

Nicole Heeney holds her students to high standards and is a true inspiration for any student pharmacist. She consistently strives to enhance the pharmacist’s importance on the interdisciplinary health care team. She exemplifies how a pharmacist should practice and provide compassionate patient care. Working to develop innovative pharmacy practice for acute care pharmacists, Heeney still finds the time to educate her students on important clinical decision making. She is both a preceptor and a mentor.

San Francisco Bay Area: Deke Shelton, UCSF Health

Deke Shelton displays outstanding professionalism and patience, all while balancing his challenging role and busy workload with the Orthopedic Surgery team at UCSF Medical Center. Shelton truly cares about his students and goes above and beyond to support them. He creates opportunities outside of the typical learning experience, such as watching a surgery and doing a research project, so his students get the most out of their rotation. He takes into consideration his students’ specific learning needs and professional aspirations, so he can help them reach their goals — an aspect that not all preceptors offer readily. Shelton employs a nice balance between cultivating a supportive environment that encourages his students to adopt a growth mindset and life-long learning while providing constructive feedback that helps to promote students’ critical professional skills. Because of him, students become more confident, assertive, and feel-good moving onto their next rotation. Shelton is a role model pharmacist who is very deserving of this award.

Experiential Education Sites of the Year, APPEs

Each of the five UCSF School of Pharmacy Experiential Education regions has one site recognized as providing exceptional learning environments for UCSF pharmacy students.

Fresno: Kaweah Health

Kaweah Health provides an exceptional learning environment, where all members of this teaching health-system embrace their roles as mentors, ensuring that every student has ample opportunities to grow. The site’s preceptors demonstrate genuine care for each student’s journey in pharmacy, fostering an environment that sets students up for success by providing comprehensive resources and unwavering support. From engaging with a diverse patient population to experiencing unique interdisciplinary teamwork opportunities and exposure to critical care, community, and ambulatory care scenarios, Kaweah’s rotations offer invaluable learning experiences. The diverse patient population served enhances learners’ understanding of health care disparities and underscores the vital importance of patient accessibility to pharmacy services. The strong teaching culture present in every rotation ensures that students depart with enriched knowledge and skills, ready to make meaningful contributions to the field of pharmacy.

Greater Sacramento: Timberlake Pharmacy

Timberlake Pharmacy offers a warm and inclusive learning environment where the preceptor and staff provide exceptional support to both students and patients. Students were fully integrated into various aspects of pharmacy practice, from understanding reimbursement structures and insurance landscapes to patient counseling and advocacy, facilitated by valuable discussions with experienced staff. Serving a large population of non-English speaking patients underscored the importance of health care access and patient comprehension. Despite its small size, the team’s familial atmosphere fostered integration and teamwork, leaving a lasting impact on the student’s appreciation for community pharmacy and advocacy.

North Bay: Lark Drugs

Lark Drugs provides an excellent work environment that is a transformative and enriching experience for student pharmacists. The exposure to passionate and dedicated professionals, coupled with valuable learning opportunities, has left lasting impacts for student pharmacists. The pharmacists at Lark Drugs prioritize patient care and are passionate about doing so. The team is skilled at ensuring that patients receive their medication in a timely manner and at an affordable cost. The pharmacy serves multiple clinics in the area that provides care to a unique patient population (unhoused, HIV, etc.). A value to the community it serves, Lark Drugs is also value to for UCSF student pharmacists.

San Francisco Bay Area: Stanford Health Care

At Stanford, students are welcomed by a team of engaging and approachable preceptors, residents, staff, and a dedicated site coordinator, who are all deeply committed to teaching. The institution offers a diverse range of high-acuity patients with complex disease states and innovative therapies, coupled with guideline-directed patient-centered care, creating an optimal learning environment. Renowned for its educational excellence, Stanford offers dedicated teaching sessions and a wide array of rotation opportunities, including critical care, oncology, cardiology, and specialty pharmacy. Preceptors intentionally organize topic discussions that further enriches students’ learning experience, helping them to establish a strong foundation in clinical knowledge and critical problem-solving skills. Preceptors at Stanford exemplify excellence in teaching and serve as role models for pharmacy practice, seamlessly integrating students into the health care team.

Southern California: UCLA Santa Monica

UCLA Santa Monica provides an enriching educational environment. Pharmacists and team members are enthusiastic about sharing their roles and teaching various topics. The rotations provide exposure to diverse areas of clinical pharmacy, and the site fosters a supportive and welcoming environment for students, focusing on their progression and professional development. Pharmacists and health care team members are kind, passionate, and eager to teach, contributing to students’ confidence and interdisciplinary relationships. Overall, UCLA Santa Monica stands out as an exceptional site for student learning and growth.

Dean’s Apple Teaching Awards

The Dean’s Apple Teaching Awards are given to faculty and student instructors who received outstanding scores on student evaluations.

• 2023 Winter teaching awards
• 2023 Summer and fall teaching awards
• 2024 Winter and spring teaching awards

Apples for Preceptors Awards

Classes of 2025 and 2026 IPPEs

The following individuals were selected to receive Apples for Preceptors recognition by members of the Classes of 2025 and 2026 for their outstanding contributions to the experiential program and UCSF student pharmacists.

Class of 2024 APPEs

San Francisco Bay Area Preceptors

North Bay Preceptors

Greater Sacramento Preceptors

Fresno Preceptors

Southern California Preceptors