Kevin Phillips, RPh
Healthwise Pharmacy
Greenville, North Carolina

Tell me about your training, the jobs you’ve held and your current position.

I graduated from UNC in 1997. I started to work at Revco, then went to K-mart, then to CVS, and in 2000 I started as the staff pharmacist at Healthwise Pharmacy. In 2002 I became pharmacist manager of Healthwise Pharmacy. Healthwise has been a great opportunity for me as a pharmacist. We do DME, compounding, herbals, and many other things here. I focus on compounding, herbals, and diabetes care.

How long have you been precepting pharmacy students?

I have been precepting pharmacy students from Campbell and UNC since 1999. I even have a student this month from Midwestern University in Chicago.

What is your teaching philosophy?

My philosophy is the student is here to learn. They can learn as little or as much as they want. I do, however, make them tell me at the end of the day at least one new thing that they learned that day. I had one student that could not understand why I did that. It is to make sure that I am doing my job correctly. Most students tell me about five things they learned that day. I have had days that they didn’t have any. Then we go over something new for them to learn.

Have you had any particularly memorable experiences while precepting pharmacy students? If so, please describe one experience.

I have had a couple of students who firmly believed that they could not be retail pharmacists. After being at my site, two different students have changed their minds to find out that there is more to retail pharmacy than to count and pour. I am glad that I could have helped change some lives. In fact, one of my previous students works as a compounding pharmacist in Florida and another works here at Healthwise Pharmacy.  

Describe one of your precepting pearls that may be helpful to the new preceptor.

I try to teach the students things about being a pharmacist. Little things like how to renew your license, or should you carry liability insurance. I also teach things I know are not taught in pharmacy school including herbal products. I do not just teach herbals; I encourage students to teach themselves. I do this because it is hard to find reliable information on herbals. Each student picks 10 herbs and tells me if they would recommend them and to whom. We go over them AFTER they look them up. It is not important whether the student knows the information or not. It is important that they know how to find the information.