Kendra Olderog, PharmD
Class of 2007
Kendra Olderog loves to travel. She spent a summer in Hungary in 2006 with 70 other students from the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation.
“That was one of the greatest opportunities in pharmacy school,” she says.
Olderog had many exciting experiences in pharmacy school, especially working with student pharmacy organizations. The 2007 graduate was a member of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) and served a term as the APhA-ASP National Member-at-large. She and four other students served as the APhA-ASP executive board to set goals and direction for the 26,000 student members of the organization.
“It’s an honor, it’s amazing,” Olderog says of winning the APhA-ASP Student Leadership Award, a result of her extraordinary involvement in student organizations and academic achievement.
After being raised in Mesa, Ariz., and receiving a BS in biology from Arizona State University, Olderog says two things compelled her to pursue pharmacy. One reason is her aunt is a pharmacist in industry, and the other reason is her mother, who is a breast and colon cancer survivor. While her mother was treated at the Mayo Clinic, Olderog saw pharmacists working and was interested in how closely they got to work with patients.
“I saw pharmacists come in with the physician and they were very involved in patient care,” she says.
Olderog completed three summer internships at NDCHealth in Phoenix and worked at Walgreens beginning in the last year of her undergraduate degree.
Now that she has completed pharmacy school, Olderog works as a pharmacy manager for Walgreens and is actively involved in the Florida Pharmacy Association's Professional Affairs Council. Although she doesn't know where pharmacy will ultimately lead her, Olderog plans to help the profession advance and reach new heights in the coming years.
“I plan on becoming a great pharmacist," she says. "There are a lot of opportunities. I’ll never be bored.”