Contact: Michael Padilla, 277-1816

November 19, 2002 WOOLF GRATEFUL FOR BOOST FROM LOCAL PHARMACY Life would be different for University of New Mexico student Shane Woolf if he had never walked into the IGA pharmacy in Alamogordo. At the time, Woolf was a student at New Mexico State University in Alamogordo. He was considering a career in engineering, but his curiosity led him to apply for a job at IGA's pharmacy. "When I was little, my dad would always see pharmacists on TV and would always say 'that's a good career,'' Woolf said. "I always remembered him saying how impressive pharmacists were and when I would see the pharmacists working at IGA I would recall his thoughts." He was given the opportunity to work in the pharmacy and knew it was something he wanted to pursue. Six months later, he took the test to become a pharmacy technician and was able to type prescriptions, make orders, stock drugs and pretty much do everything except counsel patients. Woolf said it was a great experience and is grateful for the opportunity given to him. He is especially grateful for the help and encouragement of Gail Watters, a pharmacist at IGA, now Lowes. "Gail is truly a role model that I look up to," he said. "She gave me the opportunity to work in a pharmacy. She spoke highly of the career and she always told me that I would not have a problem in becoming a pharmacist." He said that Watters always gave him the courage and ambition to continue. "Gail had small children and a husband and still managed to go to school," he said. "If she could do it so can I." Woolf is now in his second-year in pharmacy school at UNM as is looking forward to completing his degree. During his last year in school, he will do rotations at hospitals, pharmacies or other locations. His advice to students in Alamogordo is to take advantage of high school advanced placement courses offered through Alamogordo High School including biology, chemistry and calculus. He also advises students to take as many courses as possible at the local branch campus. Woolf said he is pleased that he attended the NMSU-Alamogordo and felt that he was well prepared when he started at UNM. Woolf works as an intern at Walgreen's and is part of their scholarship program. He is also a member of the American Pharmaceutical Association at UNM and recently attended a conference in Las Vegas, Nev. He intends to continue working for Walgreen's after receiving his degree. He also wants to explore the options of working in a clinical pharmacy. "Fortunately there are a lot of options for pharmacy students," he said, adding that there are positions at veteran's hospital, Indian health and mail order. "The thing that really makes pharmacy interesting to me is that a large part of our job is communicating with patients about medical and scientific matters in a way that they can understand it," Woolf said. "I really enjoy the interaction." A challenge Woolf encounters while in school is learning how to balance his time. "I have always worked while I have been in school," he said. "I have learned to live with less sleep. I have a lot of self-discipline." Woolf's parents are Vera and Jim Woolf of Alamogordo. He is a 1997 graduate of Alamogordo High School. ###

The University of New Mexico
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