By Rafael Sánchez, PharmD, BCACP
2025 BPS Ambassador
One of the most formative moments in my professional journey occurred during my ambulatory care rotation at AdventHealth Celebration in Kissimmee, Florida, where I met Julia Nickerson-Troy, PharmD, BCACP, my Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) preceptor. During that experience, I learned alongside the PGY2 Ambulatory Care resident and watched Julia move seamlessly between students, residents, physicians, and interdisciplinary teams with a quiet confidence and elegance that left a lasting impression on me.
As a student, I immediately recognized the kind of leader I hoped to become.
That APPE experience not only encouraged me to pursue ambulatory care but also inspired me to pursue board certification. Through Julia’s mentorship, I began to understand that pharmacists could do more than manage medications. We can help shape systems of care, mentor future clinicians, and improve outcomes for entire communities. She gave me confidence and helped me see that leadership in healthcare could remain compassionate, human, and deeply patient-centered.
For me, BPS Board Certification became more than a professional credential. It represented credibility, responsibility, and a commitment to serving others through clinical excellence. It also challenged me to pursue a higher standard not only for myself, but for the learners and patients entrusted to my care.
Today, I serve as a Clinical Assistant Professor, Ambulatory Care Clinician, and PGY1 Community-Based Pharmacy Residency Program Director in Texas. At the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) School of Pharmacy and Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, a Federally Qualified Health Center, serving an underserved Mexican American community, I have had the privilege of helping develop transitions-of-care services that bridge care gaps through medication management and care coordination.
Over time, I realized my desire to help patients through medications had quietly expanded to include supporting the people providing that care as well. Working with students, residents, and interdisciplinary professionals has become one of the most meaningful parts of my career.
One philosophy that continues to guide me is that everyone deserves kind, compassionate, and excellent care. That belief shapes the way I approach patient care, mentorship, and leadership alike. I never want those I mentor to feel unsupported. High expectations matter, but they should always be paired with high support, encouragement, and belief in a person’s potential.
When I reflect on my journey, I often think back to that ambulatory care rotation in Central Florida and the example Julia modeled for me through her leadership. Years later, I now find myself working with students, residents, and healthcare teams in much the same way she once did. That continuity is one of the greatest gifts mentorship offers our profession: someone invests in you, believes in your potential, and quietly changes the direction of your life and in turn, you carry that forward for someone else.
I can only hope that one day, I may be that person for others in the same way Julia was for me.