Bonnie Hui-Callahan, Pharm.D., says her career took off after not matching for a pharmacy residency—a setback that taught her resilience and led her to a better fit the second time around.
Bonnie Hui-Callahan, Pharm.D., senior director of clinical programs at Capital Rx, is one of this year’s Managed Healthcare Executive Emerging Leaders in Healthcare.
MHE editors asked each leader to answer three questions in a video interview that they also responded to in writing: Describe a turning point in your career; if you could change one thing about U.S. healthcare, what would it be; and what’s one personal goal you’re working on this year?
For Hui-Callahan, the defining moment in her career came right after pharmacy school in 2010.
She didn’t match with any of the residency programs she applied to, a moment she says shaped her future far more than expected.
“Failure is inevitable, and it really it's about how we react to that and how we pick ourselves back up and keep going. That really is key,” she said.
Hui-Callahan reapplied the following year, matched with a program that turned out to be the ideal fit, and launched her current trajectory in managed care pharmacy.
When asked what she would change about the healthcare system, Hui-Callahan didn’t hesitate: she wants pharmacists to have provider status at the national level.
She believes this would unlock a wide range of services pharmacists are already trained to provide — from adjusting medications to managing chronic conditions.
“The system is not set up to incentivize and reimburse pharmacists for being able to do such services,” she explained, noting that this shift would help reduce pressure on overburdened providers and expand patient access to care.
Outside of work, Hui-Callahan has set a big personal goal: committing to early-morning workouts.
As a mother of four, carving out time for herself is a challenge in itself.
“My goal is to do that consistently every single weekday through the end of the year,” she said. “It really helps kick my day off right.”
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