Christina Mnatzaganian

Biographical Information:

Christina Mnatzaganian, PharmD, BCACP, is Clinical Professor and Associate Dean for Experiential Education at the University of California (UC) San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS). She completed her Doctor of Pharmacy and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degrees at the University of Arizona. She completed a Postgraduate Year 1 (PGY1) Community Pharmacy Residency at The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) at the University of Hawaii-Hilo. She served as faculty at DKICP prior to joining the SSPPS faculty in 2015. She is board certified in Ambulatory Care and holds licensure as an Advanced Practice Pharmacist in California.

Current employment, practice, and academic responsibilities:

Dr. Mnatzaganian’s faculty appointment comprises many areas including clinical practice, service, teaching, and scholarly work. Her clinical practice is at the UC San Diego Health Diabetes Management and Education Clinic. In her role as the Associate Dean for Experiential Education, Dr. Mnatzaganian oversees pharmacy students completing SSPPS Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) rotations and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) rotations, as well as preceptor development. Her passion for teaching is evident as she is the awardee of multiple teaching awards, including a campus-based award for her roles in coordinating and teaching in didactic courses as well as precepting students and residents on rotation. Finally, Dr. Mnatzaganian serves on multiple school and national committees.

Significant projects and accomplishments:

There are two recent projects that Dr. Mnatzaganian is particularly proud of. She led the development of a three-session wellness series for APPE students that resulted in students decreased perceived stress and improved their feeling supported by school personnel. She also created “Dr. M’s Pharmacy Math,” a YouTube channel with multiple video demonstrations of pharmaceutical calculations, which lead to improved calculations quiz performance for the students who viewed the videos.

Promotion of Health System Pharmacy Practice:

Dr. Mnatzaganian has set up numerous innovative APPEs with affiliate health-system sites that provide care to diverse patient populations. Additionally, she has served as a preceptor for both PGY1 residents and APPE students at a community-based family medicine clinic as well as at a diabetes management and education clinic. At both sites, patients are from diverse socio-economic populations with varying medical histories and complications.

Professional Engagement & SPE:

While initially involved with ASHP as a student, Dr. Mnatzaganian resumed her involvement first with her state and local affiliated organizations, California Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists and San Diego Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists, respectively. Dr. Mnatzaganian then sought national involvement and is currently serving as on the Section of Pharmacy Educators (SPE) Advisory Group (SAG) on Development of Student Education and Learning Experiences (SELE). She is passionate about this advisory group as the work on this committee promotes interprofessional learning experiences, promotes the incorporation of student pharmacists into health-systems practice, and advances well being for faculty, preceptors, and students.

ASHP & Pharmacy Education:

ASHP is an excellent resource and organization serving pharmacists, residents, and students. There are two key resources that stand out to her that she’s utilized personally. The first one is the residency directory (used as a student, residency program director, and faculty advisor to current pharmacy students). The second resource is the Preceptor Toolkit, which includes numerous preceptor development training materials, pearls for success, and helpful strategies.

Professional Advice:

Seek out and establish relationships with trusted mentors and research colleagues. You may need to work with different mentors based on the different academia “buckets” or where you may feel you need to hone skills in (i.e., different teaching and research mentors). Getting involved in state and national pharmacy organizations is another way to network and collaborate on research together! While we often work independently in academia, success if often best achieved as a community.