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Please Welcome Kelly Usakoski, Our Student Pharmacist at Happy Druggist on Karl Road for the Month of April.

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This month, we are joined at Happy Druggist on Karl Road by Kelly Usakoski, a fourth-year pharmacy student from The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Kelly will graduate in May and will then take the test to become a registered pharmacist. Kelly will be with Kristie and the staff on Karl Road throughout April, so please stop by and meet her while she is in the store in Columbus.

Here is what Kelly tells us about herself:

Hello, I’m Kelly Usakoski, a fourth year pharmacy student at The Ohio State University and the APPE student at Happy Druggist Pharmacy for the month of April.

I’m originally from Michigan and got my Bachelor’s degree at Kalamazoo College in biochemistry. Don’t worry, I’m a Buckeye fan now. 

After college, I tried my hand at teaching elementary and middle school children, but I missed learning about advanced topics like chemistry. So then I tried working in a research lab, but I missed the social interaction and helping others. 

I eventually realized pharmacy would be the best of both worlds. I get to learn about topics like diabetes and heart disease and help manage patients’ disease states.  

My sister was doing her residency at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and she’s the reason I was so interested in moving to Ohio in the first place. Wanting to be near family, I made the move and started working at the Wexner Medical Center as a pharmacy technician in 2016 and applied to pharmacy school a year later. 

Pharmacy has been a great way to connect with people and keep my love of knowledge alive. Since my experience with pharmacy was mainly hospital based, it wasn’t until my last year of pharmacy school that I realized how rewarding community pharmacy and ambulatory care pharmacy can be.  

I’m excited to spend this month meeting new patients and making new connections.  

Outside of pharmacy, I enjoy having game nights with friends and family. I haven’t experienced a board game that I didn’t like- apart from Monopoly. Since Covid-19, most of my game nights have become virtual, so it’s been a challenge finding games everybody can enjoy online. 

I also play the bass guitar and love listening to a good bass line. Music has been a passion of mine since I was little and played the cello in the local youth orchestra. 

I also have a dog named Copper. He is a beagle who loves chasing squirrels and lounging around the apartment. He loves anyone who feeds him and he always enjoys a good belly rub. 

I’m getting married this September in Michigan, so a lot of my free time has been filled with wedding planning with my family and the future in-laws. My fiance and I have been together for ten years this April, so I’m excited to finally tie the knot. 

As I approach the end of pharmacy school, I haven’t found the perfect job yet, but I look forward to joining the workforce with all the amazing pharmacists out there. I’m excited to start practicing at the top of my license and helping new patients with their medications. 

So that’s my short story. I look forward to getting to know everybody at Happy Druggist Pharmacy this month!

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