Donna Wesslen, PharmD

Undergraduate Institution: University of North Carolina
Pharmacy School: University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy
PGY1 Residency: Carolinas Medical Center
Clinical Interests: Antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, antimicrobial stewardship, transitions of care
Research Project: Assessment of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus Treatment Strategies
Why Carolinas Medical Center? Having completed my PGY1 residency year at CMC, I had the privilege of working closely with the wonderful ID/ASN pharmacists through my ID/ASN learning experience, research project, and medication use evaluation. Working with these preceptors was an exceptional experience full of growth and support. They were truly invested in my learning and helped strengthen my already budding interest in infectious diseases. I saw firsthand their impact on patient care through their stewardship practices and immense collaboration with our infectious diseases' clinicians. For my PGY2 in infectious diseases, I knew I wanted to have experiences caring for diverse patient populations and high acuity patients. Being at CMC has allowed me to further explore my interests in the immunocompromised hosts through our stewardship within Levine Cancer Institute and our solid organ transplant center, pediatrics within Levine Children’s Hospital, and high acuity, complex patients within our various ICUs. Additionally, I was drawn to CMC for its growing HIV experiences that span both inpatient and outpatient. Professional and preceptor development was another aspect important to me when looking at PGY2 programs as I know in the future, I hope to be a preceptor for pharmacy learners at all stages. CMC provides ample professional and preceptor development opportunities within its program, whether it be the monthly quality and practice management meetings, extensive involvement in both local and national ID related organizations, or the multiple opportunities to precept pharmacy students and residents during their ASN or ID consult month. Lastly, I found it important to train at an institution that has a robust and extensive antimicrobial stewardship presence that would allow me to interact with many different preceptors with various insights and perspectives to ultimately help shape and strengthen my own clinical practice.