Top prize in treating patients right

By Jan Jarvis

Mark Herndon
Mark Herndon, UNT System College of Pharmacy student

UNT System College of Pharmacy student Mark Herndon had 10 minutes to research the drug that had been prescribed for a patient with Crohn’s disease.

He spent his time focused on the patient and how he could make sure the man took the drug properly. When he sat down with the patient, he knew exactly what to say to him.

“What’s most important is to establish good rapport,” Herndon said. “It’s about how you convey the information and make sure the patient understands it that matters.”

Herndon’s patient-centered approach recently won him first place in the Texas Pharmacy Association’s Patient Counseling Competition in San Antonio. The goal of the competition, established in 2005, is to give students the opportunity to practice in true-to-life circumstances.

Volunteers stand in for real patients and students are judged by a panel of pharmacists who look at how well they counsel each person.

As a fourth-year student completing rotations and an intern at a community pharmacy, Herndon already had lots of experience counseling patients in both academic and real-life settings.

“I think the key to successful counseling – and the reason I was able to excel in this competition – is the fact that I genuinely enjoy talking to people,” he said. “Patient counseling, at its core, is a conversation.”

The competition tests students on skills they’ll use in their career, said Jennifer Fix, PharmD, Associate Professor of Pharmacotherapy.

“Counseling the patient is an integral part of the pharmacist’s service, whether it is in a clinic setting, hospital setting or a retail pharmacy in the community,” Dr. Fix said. “This competition helps student pharmacists appreciate the art of communicating drug-related information in a way that patients can understand and act upon. “

Herndon began working at a pharmacy while completing a master’s degree in biomedical sciences. He planned to pursue medical school after he finished his master’s but realized that a career in pharmacy aligned with his interests.

Recent News

Abe Clark
  • Research
|Mar 28, 2024

Dr. Abe Clark honored with international research award

Abbot “Abe” Clark, PhD, FARVO, FAAO, regents professor of pharmacology and neuroscience in the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, has received the International Society for Eye Research 2024 Ernst H. Bárány Prize.   The awar...
Processed With Lensa With Pt12 Filter
  • Research
|Mar 28, 2024

Dr. Steven Romero receives American Physiological Society award for excellence in research

Dr. Steven Romero, associate professor of Physiology and Anatomy at the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, was named the 2024 Henry Pickering Bowditch Award Lecturer by the American Physiological Society. The lectureship is awarded to ...
Screenshot 2024 03 28 At 8.50.12 am
  • Our People
|Mar 28, 2024

Physical therapy student lands prestigious role in national organization

When Jonathan Hansen was an undergraduate intern at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, he encountered a man who had just suffered a stroke. The patient’s right side was completely paralyzed. Hansen, now a first-year student in The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Wort...
Jackie In Dc
  • Our People
|Mar 27, 2024

Personalized Health and Well-Being student repays generosity through advocacy

In 2019, The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth student Jacqueline Green said she felt hopeless. She became pregnant while experiencing hard financial times, and she didn’t have insurance. Compounding her stress was terrible grief. Her mother-in-law suddenly passed away,...