Mei T. Liu, PharmD, BCPP
Clinical Assistant Professor
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Piscataway Township, NJ
Clinical Pharmacist – Psychiatry
Penn Medicine Princeton House Behavioral Health
Princeton, NJ
Yesenia A. Sanin, PharmD
PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Resident
Boca Raton Regional Hospital
Boca Raton, FL
Mei T. Liu, PharmD, BCPP: The College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) offers various opportunities for their members to serve as a mentor for students and residents. One of these opportunities is the CPNP Connect networking at the annual meeting. CPNP pharmacist attendees were paired with a student or resident who expressed interest in meeting a mentor matching their interest areas. Contact information and instructions were was provided prior to CPNP 2017 to allow ample time to set up a time to meet.
Yesenia Sanin and I were matched as mentor and mentee in April 2017 while she was in the fourth year of pharmacy school at the Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I was motivated to participate in the CPNP networking program since I benefited from the advice and experience that other pharmacists who had mentored me as a student.
Yesenia and I enjoyed meaningful interaction as she was well prepared with questions. We discussed my professional experiences, her career goals, and we reviewed her CV and research proposal. The informal setting allowed me to be more open and candid about the experience and challenges that I’ve encountered in my career thus far. I am encouraged by her continued pursuit of a career in psychiatric pharmacy.
Yesenia A. Sanin, PharmD: The traditional mentor and mentee relationship tends to be more formal and extend over a long period of time to promote career growth. The CPNP Connect mentoring program, however, provides flexibility in the time commitment and format that is based on the needs of the participants.
I was motivated to participate in the CPNP mentoring program because I wanted to build authentic relationships within the pharmacy psychiatry profession as well as seek additional mentors outside of my school as a means to gain additional guidance and a different perspective. Yesenia and I had a wonderful experience with the CPNP mentoring program and we absolutely recommend other students and pharmacists sign up for this opportunity at CPNP 2019 in order to network and gain further insight into the profession.