Dr. Gay Alcenius Named 2019 Preceptor of the Year

Gay Alcenius, PharmD’94, was named the 2019 Preceptor of the Year Award winner at the 16th Annual Preceptor Symposium, May 10, 2019.

Gay Alcenius received her Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy in 1994. She is currently Clinical Pharmacy Manager at Henry Ford Allegiance Health in Jackson, MI, where she has worked for 20 years. In 2012, she started her department’s PGY-1 residency program and serves as a mentor to the program’s residents.

Dr. Alcenius is passionate about training future pharmacists and precepts Health-System/Hospital Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences for the College of Pharmacy. She also precepts student pharmacists from Ferris State University College of Pharmacy. She has been a preceptor for both colleges since 2001. In 2015, Dr. Alcenius received the Preceptor of the Year Award from Ferris State University College of Pharmacy; she has been nominated twice previously for the University of Michigan Preceptor of the Year Award.

“Teaching and learning have always been a significant part of my life with multiple family members having teaching careers,” explains Dr. Alcenius. “I have always enjoyed precepting students and knowing that I am influencing the next generation of pharmacists. One of the most important skills I teach my students is to identify their own learning needs. Prior to the start of each rotation, I ask the student to identify the goals or skills they want to master while on rotation here and what their previous experience is. Then I modify their schedules to accommodate those goals or skills.”

Nominators mentioned the care she demonstrates for students and the effort she puts into ensuring that students get the most out of their educational experiences. One student commented that, “Gay has been a phenomenal preceptor. During my Health Systems rotation at Henry Ford Allegiance Health, I recieved a diverse set of experiences that have helped me grown as a practitioner… Gay has had multiple topic discussions with me, and even spent time talking with me about residency. Her perspective was especially important because she is a Residency Program director. Gay is an outstanding preceptor and deserves all the recognition in the world.”

“Our experiential education program is a cornerstone of the U-M PharmD curriculum,” says Paul Walker, PharmD, Clinical Professor of Pharmacy and Director of Experiential Education, Community Engagement, and CE, College of Pharmacy. “The experiences gained through the program enhance students’ analytical and decision-making skills under the expert tutelage of experienced, dedicated practitioners who share our commitment to excellence. The unique set of experiences and exemplary practitioner-educators set the U-M Pharmacy experiential education program apart.”

Additional Student Comments:

“Gay is an engaging preceptor who is very knowledgeable about institutional pharmacy. I love that she asks us questions in order to challenge our thoughts on the topic.”  — P3 Student

“Dr. Alcenius was an excellent preceptor. She went out of her way to provide us with a wide variety of experiences during our IPPE. We were able to observe and work within many different departments of Allegiance. She was organized and helped us to know what we were doing and where we were going each week. She provided us with interesting readings, and helped us to take advantage of different meetings and presentations that were going on throughout the hospital.” — P3 Student

“Dr. Alcenius is a very caring preceptor and always has the best interests of her students in mind.” — P3 Student