Assistant Dean Spotlight: Dr. Megan Ose, Director of Pharmacy at Children’s Wisconsin
The Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy is part of a premier academic medical center. Through partnerships with Froedtert Hospital, Children’s Wisconsin and the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, students gain early, extensive exposure to a variety of clinical settings and world-class research in specialties such as precision medicine, pharmacogenomics, oncology, pediatrics, cardiology and psychiatry.
Starting in their first year of the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum, students participate in clinical rotations every Friday. One of their practice sites may be a short drive from campus at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center – or connected to campus via skywalk at Froedtert or Children’s.
The School of Pharmacy has appointed three assistant deans to help facilitate and maintain our close partnerships. This is the first of three spotlights on our assistant deans.
Megan Ose, PharmD, MHSA, RPh, DPLA
Megan Ose is the director of pharmacy at Children’s Wisconsin. She earned her PharmD from UW-Madison and master’s in health services administration from the University of Michigan. She has served in various roles during her professional career but began her pharmacist career working with critical care and pediatric populations before transitioning into leadership roles.
As director of pharmacy at Children’s Wisconsin, what do you consider to be your biggest responsibility?
Setting the direction for the department as a whole and helping with our operational planning process every year to set priorities. If we need to change our focus, we’ll have a specific conversation around making sure we have the resources in order to, first and foremost, take care of our patients each day, but also to continue to progress our department and our profession as a whole. We’ve been doing a lot of construction projects lately, starting with our OR and clinics. Now our Skywalk building just opened, where we have a new emergency department and a retail Skywalk Pharmacy site.
When deciding which pharmacy career pathway to pursue, what was interesting or exciting to you about pediatric pharmacy?
When I was picking my fourth-year rotations as a pharmacy student, pediatric pharmacy was my backup rotation. I had looked at critical care, oncology and cardiology but didn’t end up getting the cardiology rotation. I was so glad that I didn’t because I ended up loving pediatrics. I love the complexity of the patients. I love that you can go from caring for a baby that weighs less than a pound to a full-sized adult patient, and that incorporates additional calculations and complexity. Sometimes you need to compile evidence because there isn’t necessarily data for use in some of these populations to achieve the best outcome. I think it’s one of the most interesting rotations I had. I also love being able to see the kids, and it’s an environment where I think everybody is so collaborative and pleasant to work with.
What does your role as assistant dean of pediatrics for the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy mean to you?
It’s an interesting capacity in which I can advocate for our profession. From a pediatrics perspective, I encourage students to think about pediatrics as an area of focus. We have a unique opportunity with the Medical College of Wisconsin to have more of a focus or emphasis on pediatric topics that other schools aren’t always able to provide. I think it’s such an important area of clinical practice, no matter what site you work in. I like being able to ensure that we’re providing that complete education for students that includes the pediatric population.
What is the best advice you ever received?
The best professional advice was to look at pharmacy as a career pathway. I knew I wanted to go into something clinical and had a leadership interest but wasn’t sure which direction to go. There were a lot of different professional schools that I visited with, and pharmacy just felt like the right fit. My mom was a nurse and she advised me to look at it.
Where did you grow up? How did that impact you?
I was born in the Milwaukee area and lived here partway through elementary school, then moved to Wisconsin Rapids. Seeing the partnership between the community hospital, where my mom worked as a nurse, and the community was impactful. I saw how health is such a critical part of the population within a given region and understood the importance of having access to quality care without necessarily needing to travel, especially if you need timely access to care (for example, someone undergoing cancer treatment).
Please tell us about your family.
My husband is an attorney. We met in college through my roommate at UW-Madison. We have one son who is turning three, and right after his birthday, we’ll be welcoming our daughter to the world. We also have two cats. Spending time with my family is something that’s so important to me and is something I look forward to each day. Seeing my son grow and the new things he learns is really rewarding. I love taking him to the par 3 golf course and seeing him run up to the green, put the ball close to the hole, hit it in and celebrate.
What is something people don’t know about you?
I like to be active and love playing golf. I’m no good at it, but I love it. It’s always a challenge and it’s one of those places where you can see growth. It’s also a humbling experience to be out on the golf course. I just love being outside, enjoying a nice day in a quiet setting where you can take your time. I also love traveling and baking. The precision of baking helps complement the pharmacist mentality.