KINGSTON –June 10, 2008 –The University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy has honored faculty member Kelly Matson with the Advanced Pharmacy Practice “Preceptor of the Year” award.

Preceptors oversee pharmacy students’ clinical experiences and serve as educators educators and mentors. During the 2006-2007 academic year Matson mentored 11 students at Hasbro’s Children’s Hospital in the area of pediatric pharmacotherapy.

Matson, a resident of Providence, is a clinical assistant professor in the department of pharmacy practice. She is a University of Florida graduate and received her doctor of pharmacy degree from Purdue University in 2001. Matson then joined The Children’s Hospital in Denver, Colo. as a pediatric specialty resident pharmacist.

After coming to URI in 2002, Matson began her preceptor work almost immediately. “The preceptor program within the College of Pharmacy gives students an opportunity over the academic year to learn one-on-one from a preceptor in a pharmacy practice setting,” Matson said.

Admired by her students, Matson reacted to the honor saying, “The award is given based on students’ assessment, thus their comments on learning and overall education during their time on rotation with me gives me the most joy.”

In addition to teaching in the pharmacy college, Matson serves as faculty advisor to the local chapter of Lambda Kappa Sigma, the professional pharmacy fraternity. She was the faculty advisor for the pharmacy class of 2008.

Locally, Matson has volunteered her knowledge and skills at grade schools, such as the “Poison Prevention Program” at South Road and Peace Dale Elementary Schools, which began in 2004.

She has also written numerous articles for pharmacy journals and has done educational presentations on topics such as infectious diseases, prescription drug abuse, and HIV. Most recently, Matson presented at the 23rd Annual Seminar by the Sea Northeast Regional Conference in 2008, where she spoke about the treatment of eating disorders and childhood obesity.

Pictured above

A TOP MENTOR: Kelly Matson, center, a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island, displays a plaque after being named “Preceptor of the Year.” Joining her are Kathleen Fisher, director of experiential learning at URI’s College of Pharmacy and Ronald P. Jordan, dean of the College of Pharmacy. URI Department of Communications and Marketing photo by Dave Lavallee.