Dr. Danielle Tran Shares Experiences with Future Pharmacists
Career in Community Pharmacy Settings Yields Big Returns for Touro Preceptor
Dr. Danielle Tran graduated from the University of the Pacific with the Class of 1987. She is a Pharmacy Manager at Safeway in Walnut Creek. In addition to her role as a practicing pharmacist in her community, she is also the Experiential Education Coordinator for Safeway NorCal Division.
Tran started her career as an inpatient pharmacist with Kaiser Permanente for six months. She then realized her passion was to be in the community setting servicing her community. She signed on with Longs Drugs from 1987 to 2011 as Pharmacy Manager in different locations: San Jose, Alameda, Modesto, Stockton, and Berkeley. She was in Berkeley for 14 years, the longest of all locations.
Mentorship Role Helps Develop Undergrads
During her time in Berkeley, Tran was the mentor for University of California, Berkeley, undergraduate students working along with members of the PILL Club. She introduced UC Berkeley students to the pharmacy profession by having them working part-time as pharmacy clerks. Many of those students are now successful pharmacists in various fields.
Tran signed with Safeway/Albertsons as Pharmacy Manager after two years with CVS. She worked for Safeway in Danville for six years, and is currently in Walnut Creek. She was assigned to her role as Experiential Education Coordinator for the past six years working alongside the College of Pharmacy's Experiential Education Coordinators to place students to sites in Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii.
A Recipe for Pharmacy Success
The highlight of her career is not only finding the right recipe to enjoy being a pharmacist in the community, but also the mentorship she is providing to future pharmacists. She loves passing on these so-called "recipes" to students, in addition to many encouraging words, the importance of perseverance, and of course, the rewards of serving the community.
Tran is a widow. She has two adult sons living in the Bay Area. She has been practicing Yoga daily for 25 years and enjoys cycling both on the road and on stationary bikes. She is a huge college sports fan and not-a-bandwagon fan of the Golden State Warriors. In fact, she says she learned to live with despair prior to the recent success of her Warriors.