Welcome to Kenmare

Feature Stories (Vol. 109 No. 19--5/09/2007)

Stint at Soda Fountain leads to return as intern pharmacist

By Caroline Downs

Jennifer Bodmer, a PharmD student at North Dakota State University and a 2001 graduate of Kenmare High School, started working behind the soda fountain at Carlson Drug in 1997.

She returned 10 years later, in April, this time to wear the white jacket and stand behind the counter during her final pharmacy rotation.

"I decided I wanted to become a pharmacist when I was a freshman in high school," she said. "I would look back at Paul [Carlson] and Rita [St. Croix] at the counter. It was neat to see how much people cared for their pharmacists and trusted them to help with their medications."

(At right, longtime family friends Rita St. Croix, left, and Jen Bodmer are now colleagues in pharmacy, with Bodmer completing her rural rotation at Kenmare Drug this month.)

Bodmer, who never wavered from her decision about pharmacy, speaks with enthusiasm about her chosen career. "It’s fun to be able to solve problems and help people with their quality of life," she said. "I like talking to people, and I’m always ready for the next new excitement!"

She participated in several aspects of pharmacy during the nine rotations she was required to complete, starting with experiences in a pediatric clinic and then a grocery store pharmacy for two community practices. She also spent a rotation at the VA Hospital in Fargo, then returned to NDSU for an academic rotation.

"That was in college concept pharmacy," she said. "I helped with lesson plans, and they actually piloted a new project in electronic medical records while I was there." Bodmer created dummy medication charts for the undergraduate students and assisted them as they converted the information to a digital format.

Next, she headed across the Atlantic Ocean to Dublin, Ireland, where she and a classmate spent five weeks at a McCabe’s Pharmacy with a staff of pharmacists that hailed from countries around the world. "It’s the largest Irish pharmacy chain," she said. "We worked in the store and helped with everything!"

In Dublin, Bodmer was exposed to different perspectives on prescribed and over-the-counter medications. "It’s all socialized medicine over there, so the pharmacy has a different role," she said, adding that visits to doctors can be expensive and difficult to schedule. "A lot of patients go to the pharmacy before they go to doctors. They come to the pharmacist for everything, and pharmacy is one of their most respected professions."

After her overseas experience, she spent 10 weeks at Mayo Clinic, where she had one rotation in the neurology department and one in family medicine. "I would meet with doctors in their rounds and review patients’ records," she said. "They would ask me questions about drug therapies."

She also researched and presented two continuing education programs for all the pharmacists employed at Mayo Clinic. One focused on new anti-epileptic drugs available to control seizures, and another reviewed eight drugs approved and introduced into the market last year.

"Then, I came to Kenmare!" she said. She explained the NDSU program wants students to recognize the role rural pharmacies play in the state’s small communities.

"You are the only pharmacist within a certain mile radius," she said. "Everything is all rolled together."

Bodmer is the daughter of Hank and Joan Bodmer, Kenmare. Her younger sister Kara is a student in the nursing program at NDSU and expects to graduate in May 2008.

During her five weeks at Kenmare Drug, Bodmer worked at the pharmacy counter and reviewed medication records of patients at Kenmare Community Hospital and the Baptist Home. She also researched and delivered two educational presentations to doctors and nurses at the hospital and one presentation to Baptist Home staff.

St. Croix, Bodmer’s supervisor and a family friend, said she had been waiting six years for Bodmer’s rotation at the pharmacy. "We tried to get her involved in everything," St. Croix said. "She’s gotten a good overview of rural health care. And the students are very well-trained at NDSU."

She explained that Bodmer, as a PharmD student, was able to counsel and make decisions with patients. On the other hand, the pharmacy technicians who also work at the counter are directly responsible to the pharmacist-on-duty and must refer patient questions to the pharmacists.

St. Croix also noted the broad range of pharmacy practices Bodmer experienced through her rotations. "She saw the specifics at Mayo [Clinic], but this is what the real world is like," said St. Croix.

Bodmer finished her rural pharmacy rotation last week and will graduate May 11th, with a job waiting for her at CVS Pharmacy in Minneapolis. "The chain is relatively new to the Twin Cities market," she said. "It’s a 24-hour store with three pharmacists. They’re building it right now. I’ll get to open it in late September!"

Until the store opens, she will study for and complete her pharmacy board exams for both Minnesota and North Dakota, and then work as a graduate intern for the CVS company. "That way, I can get used to their system and their policies," she said.

The field of pharmacy offers a wide array of careers, from retail to research. Bodmer laughed as she talked about the way some of her non-pharmacy friends viewed her studies. "The joke is that you’ll just count pills for the rest of your life," she said. She went on to list the various roles pharmacists take, including interacting with and counseling patients, working with physicians, business or insurance interests, and conducting research.

Bodmer loves to discover, review and share new information with her colleagues. Right now, her particular concerns include community pharmacy and family medicine, especially managing medications for diseases like hypertension, kidney disease and diabetes. "Anything that is used commonly is very interesting to me," she said. And because she lives with celiac disease, a condition related to the digestive system, she intends to learn more about treating gluten-intolerant people.

She also wants to maintain direct contact with the individuals who depend on her skills and knowledge. "Whatever I do, I want to keep working with patients and trying new things," she said. "Pharmacy changes every single day. The new buzzword is medication therapy management, where patients have meetings with their pharmacist to review their medications and find ways to optimize what they’re already on. In the next ten years, that will start to dictate how our pharmacies are run."

She worked at the former Osco Drug pharmacy in Minot for two summers during her time at NDSU, and she especially enjoyed the opportunity to become acquainted with her customers. "You watch people grow up," she said. "You see how people change and how their families grow."

She advised local residents to get to know their own pharmacists. "They are willing to help you in any way possible," she said. "Become informed on your medications. Pharmacists are not offended if you ask questions. That’s what we’re here for!"

Bodmer believed she came full circle by completing her studies in Kenmare. "Rita and Kim [Essler] welcomed me with open arms," she said. "They set up projects and programs for me to do. I just thought about how fun it would be to come to learn where it all started for me in 1997!"