Gabriel Guerra

Gabriel’s Story

Gabriel Guerra grew up on Long Island, New York where he graduated with his Doctor of Pharmacy Degree at the Long Island University’s Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy in Brooklyn. Dr. Guerra then completed his PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn after being a staff pharmacist in a HIV Specialty Pharmacy in Manhattan. During his first year of residency, Dr. Guerra was exposed to clinical pharmacy informatics and decided to further specialize his career by pursuing a PGY-2 Pharmacy Informatics residency for which he is currently the resident at HCA’s corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee. His career goals include becoming an adjunct professor at a college of pharmacy who specializes in clinical pharmacy informatics.

Dr. Guerra became exposed to ASHP initially as a pharmacy student. As a student, he became involved in community service projects sponsored by his local pharmacy chapter. Towards the end of his didactic education, he participated in his chapters’ Clinical Skills Competition, eventually winning in teamwork with his partner and was afforded the opportunity to represent his local chapter at ASHP’s national Clinical Skills Competition during Midyear. At Midyear, he has presented projects at both the student and resident poster presentation session, attended CE presentations and met many of his current colleagues.

Facility

Dr. Guerra completed his PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at the State University of New York’s Downstate Medical Center in 2014. As a 300 bed academic medical center, he had the opportunity to participate in multi-disciplinary rounds and contribute the development of the pharmacy department. During this time, he has provided clinical education to the staff and helped in assisting the streamlining of their informatics projects which included formulary management, electronic pharmacy documentation and staff scheduling. From there, he went on to pursue a PGY-2 in Pharmacy Informatics where he matched at the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). HCA was founded in 1968 and was one of the nation’s first hospital companies. The company is composed of roughly 165 hospitals and 115 freestanding surgery centers in 20 states and England and employees approximately 204,000 people. As the second year resident in informatics, the opportunities for data mining, analytics and project involvement is arguably second to none.

Significant Projects

Prior to residency, Dr. Guerra was involved in a multitude of pharmacy projects that included medication use evaluations, newsletter publications and student organization projects. During his residency, his longitudinal project was investigating the use of argatroban for the treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and implementing a protocol to better manage the usage of this high-cost medication. As a second year pharmacy informatics resident, his longitudinal projects will include validating a clinical decision support taxonomy tool for project prioritization. Additionally, he will be involved in a variety of project implementations and work groups.

Advice for Someone New to Your Specialty Area

Informatics is a growing area of interest. As healthcare becomes continuously more reliant on software, automation, data exchange and analysis, the need for individuals with a working knowledge of pharmacy will grow tremendously.“

ASHP’s Value to Members

“ASHP is a leading organization within the pharmacy community. It would be a must to be a part of such a large organization that empowers pharmacists with the information they need to become leaders within the profession.”

“ASHP touches all aspects of the pharmacy profession, from students to professionals and all aspects in between. Beyond the individuals, ASHP touches pharmacy within the industry and institutional settings as well. To be a part of ASHP is to be a part of the large picture of pharmacy globally.”