Stephen Fuller, Professor and Vice-Chair Faculty Development, Pharmacy Practice, thrives on supporting students and young faculty

“After interviewing at Campbell and UNC and receiving job offers from both, it was an easy decision. Simply put: Campbell cares.”

Name: Stephen Fuller

Title: Professor and Vice-Chair Faculty Development, Pharmacy Practice

Degrees and certifications: Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Wake Forest University, Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, VCU School of Pharmacy, Doctor of Pharmacy, VCU School of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Practice Residency, VCU, BCPS, BCACP, CPP, AACP Academic Leadership Fellow (ALFP), PGY2 Residency Director (1998-2022)

What influenced your decision to pursue your career field and/or your current position at CPHS? The small environment. I went to a smaller school for undergrad (Wake Forest) and then a larger institution (VCU) for pharmacy school. After interviewing at Campbell and UNC and receiving job offers from both, it was an easy decision. Simply put: Campbell cares.

What is your day to day like in your current position and what do you enjoy most about what you do? I see patients with chronic diseases (diabetes, lipids, hypertension, obesity, etc.) and manage them in every way. It is extremely rewarding to get to know them and be able to help them. It is even more rewarding to train students and residents to interact with them. I have a good relationship with the MDs and FNPs with whom I work and I am allowed to treat them as a Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner.

Please describe any current research endeavors? Most of my time is spent helping younger faculty with their projects. One of my favorite projects involved assessing the reading skills of pharmacy students when compared to the reading level of the materials we ask them to read. I also enjoyed being a part of the group that wrote the infamous Asheville Project demonstrating the impact community pharmacists can have when they provide patient care. My biggest passion is helping students and young faculty thrive and develop clinical services and teach.

Additional accomplishments / passions: Although I am an extremely extroverted person and like to meet people and find out about their culture (I have never met a stranger), I am very intense about my personal time, having quiet time and exercising. I am very passionate about what think our profession should be pursuing and how to help students reach that goal.

At Campbell we believe in purposeful lives and meaningful service. What legacy are you leaving in your life / your chosen field? I do my best to help others achieve their goals, and I set high standards that I try to meet on a daily basis. I am a man of faith and believe that being a pharmacist simply allows me access to people so I can care for them and discuss matters that are really important.

Reasons why prospective students should choose Campbell over other Graduate and Professional Schools: It’s simple: Campbell cares. Come visit us and feel the difference!

Please summarize your personal, career, and academic journey: Clinical Practice: Developed clinical practice at four different sites that had never had pharmacy services before. Duke-SRAHEC (medical residency), Kaiser-Permanente (managed care), Cary Health Care (private practice), Access HealthCare (private practice-Direct primary care). Developed anticoagulation, pharmacotherapy, diabetes, transition-of-care, and weight loss clinics. Developed reimbursement schemes for all of them. Helped our clinic receive PCMH (patient-centered medical home) status and worked with the ACO to improve our metrics and reimbursement.

Teaching: More than 550 students at my sites, taught in Duke PA, ECU – FNP, Campbell PA, and CPHS programs. Developed Pharmacotherapy Curriculum for residents at SRAHEC and presented at national STFM meeting. Developed the Teaching New Teachers (TNT) program in 2008 and pulled in Ann Marie Nye, Bob Cisneros, and Lorae Roukema. Developed protocol and plan to market this program as PACT (2016) to outside residency programs. We have graduated > 200 from CPHS (TNT) and more than 225 additional students from PACT. Developed Pharmacotherapy Noon conference teaching series for our clinicians and brought in a different PharmD each month.

Service/Scholarly: 50 pubs and more than 100 presentations; AACP delegate twice, reviewer for AJPE, APhA, J Pharmacy Teaching, developed Asheville Project research protocol with 1 CU faculty and 2 UNC faculty. Developed the plan that led to NCSHP and NCPhA joining to become NCAP. Developed a state-wide pharmacist’s telethon during Talk About Prescriptions month (October) with grants from Glaxo and presented the results at a national NCPIE meeting. first faculty at CPHS to attend the AACP ALFP program. Nat’l Pharmacy Cholesterol Council (NPCC) lipid clinic grant – first among 5 recipients, got grant which helped R Chater (Kerr Drug) develop patient clinic protocols which eventually translated into the Enhanced Pharmaceutical Care Center at Kerr Drug, first pharmacy faculty to publish on the reading assessment skill of pharmacy students, first pharmacy paper published on remediation in pharmacy schools. 1st faculty in Department of Pharmacy practice to become a CPP. Served as a  pharmacist at Open Door Clinic.

Awards: NCAP Pharmacist of the Year Award for Service, 7 teaching/precepting awards, Dean’s Award for teaching excellence, 2008 Distinguished Pharmacy Alumnus Award from VCU, was asked to be a reviewer for ASHP residency programs after I developed my own ambulatory care criteria which were not yet published.