Preceptor Profile: Dr. Lauren Sakamoto

The 2023 DKICP Preceptor of the Year provides real-world experience for student pharmacists at The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu.

As pharmacy operations manager and pharmacy residency director for The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, Dr. Lauren Sakamoto has gained the esteem of her colleagues in academia and the respect of student pharmacists.

Since she began working with DKICP students in 2019, she has precepted 19 APPE students, with more slated for the current school year, says Jarred Prudencio, DKICP associate professor and director of experiential education. “She has also assisted our faculty in coordinating our P2 IPPE summer hospital rotations, working with 45 students so far, not counting those who just completed rotations there last summer.

“She has been a great supporter of our experiential programs and consistently receives positive feedback from students about the experiences they’ve received under her preceptorship,” he adds. “Students say they appreciate that she exposes them to the full range of activities and responsibilities pharmacists have in a hospital setting.”

Sakamoto is a Hawaiʻi native, who received her Pharm.D. degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., in 2010, and was a post-graduate year 1 pharmacy resident at The Queen’s Medical Center. She worked for one year at Kaiser Moanalua Hospital, in Honolulu, before returning to The Queen’s Medical Center, where she worked in a variety of areas including discharge education, trauma, inpatient and clinic settings, as well as the ICU.

“I took on the pharmacy operational manager and pharmacy residency director position in 2018, overseeing the pharmacy residency program, student liaison, inpatient operations, and the procedural areas,” she explains.

Her philosophy of working with students is to work as hard and contribute as much effort as she expects from the students. ”If my students are engaged and willing to learn, I will involve them in day-to-day learning activities as much as possible.”

The biggest challenge for most students is to take what they’ve learned in school and apply it to practice, she adds. “To help them do that, I ask questions and have them independently do research and come up with a plan of what they would recommend.”