Karan Dawson, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy; Consulting Pharmacist, UW Pharmacy Cares
Following an internship at Valley Medical Center, Karan worked as a clinical pharmacist at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Seattle and completed a residency.
She returned to the UW for an MS in Pharmacy to explore teaching and research, which led to becoming the director of continuing pharmacy education. Given the changing needs of pharmacists to provide patient-centered care, she returned to the UW for a PhD in speech communication. She is one of three consulting pharmacists in an innovative, non-dispensing practice that serves retirement communities.
She has won three awards for innovative teaching, served in a series of elective offices for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, continues to precept pharmacy clerkship students, and is a founding board member for the Center for Chronic Illness.
Her current research interests are in the areas of teaching effectiveness, the provision of non-dispensing pharmacy services, and application of mind/body/spirit/medicine techniques to enhance professional self-care and patient well-being. She gives talks to the general public and professional groups on topics ranging from drug therapy to self-care practices and on mind/body/medicine.
On a personal level, she has a meteorite fragment postulated to have fallen in 1516. Karan and her husband along with another couple own a house in Tuscany that they rent out, which in part explains her favorite cappuccino: “In Rome airport (Leonardo da Vinci / Fiumicino). Turn left immediately upon exit from baggage claim. The cafe is just beyond the pillar named ‘Meeting Point.’”
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