The mission of UW PharmD student advising, coaching, and counseling is to enhance the student experience, including academic success, professional growth, and personal well-being. To accomplish this objective, staff advisors and faculty mentors provide holistic, personalized guidance to PharmD students, referring to UW and community resources as needed. During Welcome Week, students are matched with an advisor who serves as a primary point of contact and support throughout your time in the program.
> Current PharmD Students: See the PharmD Advising, Coaching, and Counseling page in Canvas (requires UW NetID login) for information about how to access advising and counseling support.
> Prospective Students: contact our Admissions and Recruitment Team at uwpharmd@uw.edu.
Advising Team
- Caitlin Blomquist, Director of Advising and Student Success: Serves students with last names P-Z and all international students
- Mike Spielman, Director of Admissions and Recruitment: Serves students with last names I-O
- Emily Schump, Associate Director of Admissions and Recruitment: Serves students with last names A-H
Academic Coaching Team
Dr. Rachel Firebaugh, Clinical Assistant Professor & Department Academic Support Coach
Dr. Rebekah Freed, Academic Skills Counselor/Learning Specialist. Book time with Rebekah Freed: Academic Coaching Meeting
Academic coaches work with students to navigate common topics like…
- Time Management
- Procrastination
- Motivation
- Exam preparation & anxiety
- Writing
- Reading & note-taking strategies
- Communicating effectively with advisors/mentors
Mental Health Counselor
Emma Buchanan, Health Sciences Liaison and Counselor: Serves all SOP students
Emma is a Licensed Clinical Social Work from the Counseling Center serving the School of Pharmacy and Foster School of Business. She has experience providing counseling in community mental health and inpatient care.
Depending on your specific needs, Emma can work with you to build on your strengths and accomplish your goals. This may include:
- Finding ways to manage academic, career, and/or relationship stressors
- Understanding your values
- Increasing and developing skills around emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, and/or processing difficult experiences
- Building practices of awareness and advocacy
Emma’s services are free and completely confidential. You can connect with her at a Let’s Talk virtual event if you would like to learn more about counseling, want to get connected to services, or if you have any other questions.
