The AHEC Instructor of the Year Award
Alissa Smith, PharmD

The AHEC Instructor of the Year Award is designed to recognize an outstanding faculty member who has had a positive impact on students’ advanced practice experience. Students from the class of 2005 selected Alissa Smith, PharmD, to receive this prestigious award for her proven exemplary teaching and mentorship skills. 

Smith received her PharmD degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1999. She completed an ambulatory care residency with emphasis in family medicine at MUSC in 2000. After completing her residency, Smith joined the UNC-Chapel Hill community-based faculty and the Carolinas Healthcare System, working in the outpatient Internal Medicine Clinic where she has trained over 25 of the School's pharmacy students. She currently serves as the ambulatory clinical care leader and director of the Anticoagulation Clinic and specializes in the practice areas of anticoagulation, medication management and asthma. Smith is actively involved in pharmacist staff development for the Department of Pharmacy and is the director of the Ambulatory Care Residency at Carolinas Medical Center.

Listed below are a few comments from students regarding Smith:

“Dr. Smith has been such a pleasure to work with. She communicates so easily with PharmD students and is extremely good at making herself available. Her relationship with all her co-workers is a great example of what a practitioner should strive for.”

“Dr. Smith was very interested in seeing that I learned all I could from her rotation. She provided several different educational opportunities each week and was already ready to answer any question I had.”

“Dr. Smith is an excellent faculty preceptor because she gave me the right amount of independence and guidance. She devoted a lot of time for valuable topic discussion.

“Dr. Smith is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to pharmaceutical care.”

“Dr. Smith is a great role model, a great person and she does so much to advance the practice of pharmacy.”

Alissa Smith is a true asset to the AHEC Program and the School of Pharmacy. Please join me in recognizing her as our AHEC Instructor of the Year.

Preceptor of the Year Award
Mary Parker, PharmD

The Preceptor of the Year Award is designed to recognize an outstanding preceptor who has participated in the Professional Experience Program and who has had a positive impact on students’ experiential education. Mary Herring Parker, PharmD, is the recipient of this prestigious award. Parker received her PharmD degree at Campbell University School of Pharmacy in 1998. She completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro in 1999 and a specialty residency in Anticoagulation Management/Ambulatory Care at Moses Cone and Campbell in 2000. She is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist.

In 2002, Parker became a preceptor for our program and has trained over 14 UNC pharmacy students at LeBauer Healthcare in Greensboro. Her practice site is a multidisciplinary physician practice where she serves as a clinical pharmacist practitioner and Director of the Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Clinics. Her current research interests include management of heart failure, anticoagulation, hyperlipidemia, and women's health issues.

Listed below are excerpts from students’ nomination letters:

“Mary Parker is quite possibly the site’s biggest strength not only to me as a student but to the entire office. She is truly an inspiration for what pharmacists can achieve in a clinical practice setting. She sees patients in lipid heart failure and coumadin clinics, and her recommendations are highly regarded by her co-workers.”

“She shows true compassion for all of her patients and one cannot help but feel the passion she has for her job every day you are around her.”

“Dr. Parker’s patients, staff and students can see her energy for life and pharmacy – it’s contagious.”

“Her co-workers hold great respect for her.”

“She often took time she didn’t have to stop and discuss topics with me with her undivided attention.”

“Dr. Parker is an extremely knowledgeable preceptor and provides a wonderful learning environment for her PharmD students.”