Cynthia G. Johansen, R.Ph., BS, MS Offers Cambridge Publishing a Glimpse into the Life of a Clinical Pharmacist Consultant
Cynthia G. Johansen stresses the importance of "keeping up" in the pharmaceutical industry

VISALIA, CA, May 9, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ --"I became a medical professional because I had the opportunity as a high school girl to work with a local pharmacist." So recalled Cynthia G. Johansen during a candid sit-down interview with Cambridge Who's Who. Initially charged with caring for the pharmacist's children and operating a soda fountain, Johansen began mentoring under her boss. "He thought I would be a very good pharmacist, so he worked with me to develop my interest," she stated.

Prior to focusing her career on her current private clinical pharmacist consulting business, Johansen owned her own drugstore for 10 years, and worked as a clinical pharmacist at a 250-bed general hospital as well as at a children's hospital. Her expertise in psychiatry was gained from her being hired to institute clinical pharmacy services in a large corporation that had a private psychiatric hospital and community mental health programs in many counties. Now, with over 40 years of experience, Johansen is a leading clinical pharmacist in psychiatry and in the developmentally delayed client. She has contracts with several counties in California to provide medication monitoring to county mental health programs based on plans developed together with psychiatrists in each area. Client charts are reviewed, followed by meetings with psychiatrists, FNPs, PAs, nurses and other clinical and administrative staff in each county. She is also the medication monitoring coordinator for a telepsychiatry group. In addition to her work in psychiatry, Johansen is a consultant for the developmentally delayed clients at the Central Valley Regional Center. She provides weekly pharmacy consulting services to over 10,000 clients - a charge that includes providing client medical evaluations and making recommendations in an effort to improve clients' lives. Johansen works extensively with doctors, nurses, pharmacists and case managers to review prescription plans and treatment options.

Primed by extensive experience in a number of disciplines, Johansen stresses the importance of remaining current with the changing trends in the pharmaceutical industry. "A pharmacist has a very wide education. You learn about all drugs [and] it's a matter of keeping up," she stated emphatically. In order to "keep up," Johansen reads no less than 10 pharmacy-related periodicals. It is no surprise, then, that she is highly sought out for her expertise as a pharmaceutical consultant trainer. She works with doctors and nurses and also provides public outreach and education, especially for senior citizens. Johansen offers her services to a multitude of organizations that provide healthcare assistance for seniors. "I call it 'brown bagging'—they bring in a bag of medication and we go over them," she smiled.

Johansen holds a master of science in human relations and organizational development from the University of San Francisco. She noted that she chose to pursue such a degree so as not to be pigeonholed into a specific function within the healthcare field. She commented, "Pharmacists here in California have Pharm.D. degrees. I don't have that. I wanted to be competitive so that I could do any job from the perspective of the people that were hiring." In addition to her graduate degree, Johansen holds a bachelor of science from the South Dakota State University College of Pharmacy.

With such career longevity, it does not seem that Johansen has any intentions of retiring. Resting comfortably on her laurels is certainly not in the cards for this healthcare pioneer. Quite the opposite actually—Johansen considers her position to be a life-long responsibility. She views it the following way: "When you become a pharmacist, you're saying that you want to study for the rest of your life, because that's what it amounts to if you're going to be any good."

Cynthia G. Johansen, R.Ph., BS, MS, Clinical Pharmacist Consultant, may be reached via Email at cnjohansen@aol.com.

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