Without Shenandoah, Katelyn Miller Overstreet ’12 says she would not have her degree and would not have known about the United States Public Health Service (PHS), where she is currently employed.
Overstreet first learned about PHS while attending a lunch and learn seminar at the Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy. “The organization is small and not well known, so had I not attended this seminar I likely would not have known PHS existed.”
Overstreet made the decision to attend Shenandoah because of the direct access she would have to the school of pharmacy. “I was receiving a guaranteed seat in the pharmacy school program. If I had selected another school, I would have spent two to four years in undergrad before applying to a graduate program without knowing if I would be accepted.” She also liked Winchester’s suburban feel, reminding her of the town she grew up in.
Overstreet enjoyed the professional pharmacy fraternity Kappa Epsilon as student, becoming vice president during her third year. “I think the organization is great, supports good causes and encourages community involvement. It was a good stress relief and provided networking opportunities.” She also found the pharmacy school faculty and preceptors very helpful when applying to the PHS.
She is now a project manager for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)/PHS. Overstreet and a review team examine the applications for new prescriptions that are submitted by drug companies, determining whether they will be approved or not. “A rewarding aspect of my career is getting drug shortage or first generic drug applications approved.”
Before her position as a project manager, Overstreet was a clinical pharmacist on a Santa Clara Native American reservation in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, and saw warfarin patients. One of her patients had hearing and vision impairments that made interviewing her difficult and thus it was hard to assess how she was taking her medication. She devised a unique interview technique in order to obtain the necessary information to adjust her dose. This is an experience Overstreet will never forget.
The advice that Overstreet has for future students is: “School goes by quicker than you think, it may not seem that way now though. Take time to enjoy opportunities and events that will not be available once you graduate. You may think you know the type of job or company you want to work for when you graduate, but this can change before and after you graduate. For instance, I originally (as a first-year pharmacy student) thought I would be going into academia when I graduated. ”