When Jackie Zeeman conducts research, she’s hoping her findings will leave the world a little better than she found it.
Her most recent work, “Identifying Traits and Building Consensus on Priority Leadership and Professionalism Attributes in Pharmacy Education,” left that mark on an international level.
Zeeman was one of four across the world invited to present research in the New Investigator Series at the 10th Biennial Monash Pharmacy Education Symposium in Prato, Italy, in July. At the symposium, she dug into the definitions of leadership and professionalism in pharmacy education.
Because of her work, the symposium honored Zeeman with the 2019 New Investigator Award, which celebrates outstanding early career educators.
“I felt honored to even be a presenter,” Zeeman said. “But to be selected as the winner was truly humbling.”
Presentations were focused around four core themes: educational research; teaching innovation; educational framework development; and practice research. Each participant delivered a 25-minute speech, followed by a five-minute question and answer session.
UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy team members Robert Hubal, Stephanie Kiser, and David Steeb assisted with Zeeman’s study.
Zeeman said she hopes her work will help pharmacy students gain core skills in leadership and professionalism that will serve them in their future careers.
Her advice to students is to “talk to as many people as you can and learn about their [pharmacy] path. Sharing your story and interests will only lead to more learning opportunities.”