Co-coordinator of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences begins duties

Donna Sym assumed her duties as co-coordinator of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) with Binghamton University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences on March 1.

Sym, who will add teaching responsibilities as a clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice to her duties in July, is based in New York City and is the point person to ensure all downstate preceptors are screened and on-boarded correctly.

“We are very excited to expand our Experiential Education team, particularly with someone as talented as Donna,” said Angela Riley, executive director of Experiential Education and assistant dean. “With her previous experience, wealth of knowledge and extensive network of pharmacist colleagues, Binghamton University will not only increase our visibility in the New York City region but also move one step closer to fulfilling our mission to transform human health locally and globally.”

“I’m excited about this,” Sym said. “The APPE co-coordinator position will have me travel to all of our sites in the New York City area as they get developed. I hope I will also be involved in recruiting because I know many talented colleagues in this area. Pharmacy is a small world.”

Sym’s clinical site will be at Northwell Health on Long Island, a place familiar to her. “I was a clinical preceptor in the Infectious Disease Division at Northwell Health (Manhasset) when I was at St. John’s, so it’s like coming home,” she said. “Now, I’ll be at Northwell’s Vivo Pharmacy in Lake Success, which is a specialty pharmacy catering to specific patient populations.”

A resident of Long Island, Sym earned her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and her PharmD from St. John’s University and is licensed in New York state and a certified immunizer. She has completed certificate programs in antimicrobial stewardship and anticoagulation and training programs in SBIRT (screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment) and naloxone administration.

Sym was most recently a clinical associate professor, director of introductory pharmacy practice experiences and clinical skills laboratory at the Stony Brook School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, which closed. Prior to that, she was an associate clinical professor at St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She has also consulted for pharmaceutical companies, worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb as medical science manager for infectious diseases, and been a staff pharmacist for hospitals and retail operations.

She assisted Northwell Health to develop a PGY-1 general practice residency and a PGY2 ambulatory care residency in infectious diseases. Sym has numerous journal and other publications, and has made dozens of presentations at the local, regional and national levels.

Sym is a member of the American Academy of HIV Medicine, the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (Long Island chapter), the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and the New York State Council of Health-system Pharmacists (Long Island chapter), for which she served as the LI chapter president.