Adrienne Begaye
PharmD Candidate, Class of 2010
Adrienne Begaye found a target and honed in on it immediately—The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, that is.
Begaye knew from a young age that she wanted a career in health care.
“When career day came around, I went to all the different presentations,” she says. “I sat through a dentist’s lecture, a physician’s lecture and a pharmacist’s lecture. The one that caught my interest was pharmacy—it seemed to be an integral part of medicine and a place where I might do the most good to help my community.”
Begaye thanks Jim Rostedt, the pharmacist who gave the presentation, for helping her make the decision to pursue a pharmacy career.
“He was the chief pharmacist at the Indian Health Center in my hometown, Winslow, Arizona,” she says. “I later contacted Dr. Rostedt to ask for help getting experience in the pharmacy prior to my admission to the College of Pharmacy. He was happy to help me learn about the commissioned officers of the IHS and what the government health services had to offer. He also had a hand in helping me become an IHS Scholar. In addition he encouraged me to come back to the Indian Health Service to help improve the health care in my community.”
Begaye chose COP because “I found that conveniently there was a state university with a great pharmacy program.”
She also didn’t want to leave Arizona because she enjoys the climate and has many familial ties in the state.
“I come from a large family of which I’m one of over 100 great-grandchildren, and one of about 30 grandchildren, just from my mother’s side,” Begaye says. “I would say about 90 percent of my entire extended family lives here in Arizona. Arizona is just a great place to live—I really don’t see myself living anywhere else.”
After pharmacy school, Begaye will work for the Indian Health Service to complete her IHS scholar program.
“This means that for as long as the IHS supports me in pharmacy school, I am obligated to pay them back by working for them for that same amount of time,” Begaye says.
She thinks she will have to work at the IHS for four years, but she’s looking forward to it.
“I’m hoping to spend part of that time here in Tucson and some in my hometown,” she says. “Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to work with Dr. Rostedt as a fellow officer instead of a student.”
Begaye is proof that encouragement makes a lasting impression on young people as she talks about Rostedt.
“I still see him when I go to Winslow to visit my family,” she says. “He is always eager to hear that I am doing well.”