Trista Ross
Genoa Healthcare
"I knew the only way I was going to get anywhere was to work as hard as I could...there is no free/easy road in life."
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Trista's work combines: Medicine, Business, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Plate Canyon High School
Bachelor's Degree
English writing
University of Colorado Denver
Doctorate
Doctor of Pharmacy
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Pharmacy Site Manager:
Bachelor's Degree: English writing
Doctorate: Doctor of Pharmacy
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
I graduated high school and was working at a local gas station and living at home. I saw a flyer for an online pharmacy tech school. I decided to go for it and ended up getting certified on my own.
2.
I got a job in the pharmacy and worked as a tech, with every intention of going to pharmacy school. I ended up failing out of college at first. I just had no motivation.
3.
After getting out of a toxic relationship that lasted five years (with someone who discouraged me from school at every turn) I decided to enroll in college.
4.
This time, school was much easier for me. I was older and better able to manage my time. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do pharmacy though. I took pharmacy pre-reqs but also majored in writing.
5.
One of my dearest friends I met in college encouraged me to apply to pharmacy school. I decided that poetry probably wasn’t going to get me very far, so I applied and got accepted.
6.
While in pharmacy school, I worked for the same company I had when I was a tech. I had ambitions to be a manager and was accepted to a special management internship.
7.
I became a pharmacy manager pretty much as soon as I got licensed. I was discouraged at first because it was so overwhelming. I ended up job hopping a bit.
8.
I wanted more than anything to move to Austin, and I ended up finding a job in a mental health pharmacy. I love being here and I enjoy my job more than my previous ones.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Teachers:
Pharmacists are just pill counters and that is beneath you.
How I responded:
Some people minimize what I do or the value I can bring to patients. I deal with the “noise” by feeling proud of myself and my accomplishments. A pharmacy degree isn’t easy to get and working in a pharmacy is more difficult then it seems to the public. We really don’t just stand around! I know when I make a clinical intervention that helps a patient I can dispel any negativity from the outside. I have learned to feel confident with the education I worked very hard to achieve.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I grew up with very little money. I knew the only way I was going to get anywhere was to work as hard as I could. I was determined to put myself through school. I’ve had to work a lot. I’ve realized there is no free/easy road in life.