Four years and two kids later, Gaytan ready to join wife as pharmacist

by Chuck Gordon

Pharmacy school is no walk in the park. It's no wonder that each cohort in the Wingate University School of Pharmacy forms a tight bond: They rely so much on each other just to make it through the rigorous coursework and testing.

Try adding Covid-19 and a pair of newborn babies into the mix.

"It's been tough," Samuel Gaytan says. "It's been really tough."

Luckily for Gaytan, his wife knows full well the demands of pharmacy school. In fact, Jessica Osteen Gaytan '16 (Pharm.D.) is the one who encouraged him to pursue pharmacy as a career.

On Friday, the Gaytan clan will be in Wingate to see Samuel graduate from the School of Pharmacy. Gaytan and 80 of his classmates will receive their doctor of pharmacy diplomas during the graduate commencement ceremony, which begins at 9 a.m. under the oaks in the Academic Quad.

In total, 198 graduate students will be eligible to cross the stage on Friday to receive master's and doctoral diplomas in accounting, business administration, education, occupational therapy, physical therapy, public health and sport management.

Pharmacy makes up the largest chunk of grads, including 14 who did the full program at the Hendersonville campus. That's where Gaytan has been studying for the past four years.

Well, technically, the first year or so he was learning from home, with Covid-19 having limited the number of in-person gatherings. At the time, it was something of a blessing. During that academic year, the Gaytans welcomed the newest addition to their family, and Samuel was able to concentrate on his coursework while also being present for his newborn.

"Having a bottle and her on my lap and a lecture on the screen was kind of the norm for me during that year," Samuel says.

Three years later, in October 2023, the couple added another newborn to the mix, right in the middle of Gaytan's clinical rotations. That was a little more difficult to handle, since rotations are on-site, but he says his preceptors - working pharmacists who act as mentors - gave him some latitude to be a father.

"It was definitely a different experience with the newest one," he says. "I wasn't able to take that time off. But for the most part, I didn't have exams or these big assignments, and I was lucky to have preceptors who understood what I was going through. I was able to come home and be present."

Dr. Michelle Chaplin, professor and associate dean of academic affairs, says that simply making it through pharmacy school while caring for a growing family shows that Samuel will succeed in a demanding profession.

"Pursuing a doctoral degree in pharmacy is not a small lift and is challenging for any student," she says. "Accomplishing so much while having so many demands elsewhere is truly admirable. At WUSOP, we do our best to create a family atmosphere, and especially in Hendersonville, seeing a diverse group of students, with unique needs and circumstances, come together and be successful is one of the best parts of the job!"

The Gaytans trod an unusual path to a family of five and two pharmacy degrees. High school sweethearts in Germany, where Gaytan's father was stationed, they had a child together after high school but eventually parted ways. Samuel earned a teaching degree and moved to the Baltimore area, while Jessica went to pharmacy school, eventually landing a job at the Charles George Veterans Administration Medical Center in Asheville (she is now the pharmacy operations supervisor there).

Teaching, it turns out, was not Samuel's calling. He worked a variety of jobs - warehouse supervisor, insurance agent - before he and Jessica reconnected a few years ago and rekindled their love, eventually marrying in 2018. She thought he might enjoy pharmacy, so she encouraged him to get a job as a pharmacy technician to try the profession out.

He loved it. "Everything about pharmacy has been really great," says Samuel, now 32. "It's tested me mentally. I just love the problem-solving of it."

He also loves helping people. Samuel's family is originally from Mexico, and growing up in a bilingual household, he found, was especially beneficial in North Carolina pharmacies.

As a pharmacy tech at an Ingles grocery store, Samuel found himself being a lifeline to members of the Hispanic community in the area.

"One of my great passions when I was there was reaching out to the Hispanic community," he says. "In that community, they don't know that they can come to the pharmacist, who is really and truly the most accessible health care provider in America for everybody. We have the expertise and the knowledge to help people with everyday questions about healthcare and medications."

Samuel says that connecting with those in need might be his biggest strength as a pharmacist. As a child, his family was on the move a lot because of his father's military career. New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Germany - the Gaytans lived all over.

For Samuel, the constant assimilation into new environments required him to acquire many of the social skills he'll happen to need as a pharmacist.

"I've experienced many different people and cultures," he says. "I think that's helped me in my ability to connect with people. You see people from all walks of life and every different belief you can imagine, and as healthcare providers we have to learn to connect with them. If you don't connect with them, it's really hard to get them to buy into what you're selling. Especially with people who aren't from this country, if they don't trust you or accept what you're saying, they're not going to follow the regimen that you're giving them or the medication you're wanting them to take. They're not going to do the follow-ups and check-ups, so connecting with people is really important."

The Gaytans recently bought a house in Fletcher, just outside of Hendersonville, and Samuel is now working on finding a pharmacy job in the area. He says he'd like to eventually work in a hospital setting.

After the past four years, wherever Samuel lands, he knows that he'll be able to handle the pressures of the job.

"I've learned that I can overcome any stress," he says. "I'm just ready for anything life throws at me now."

Learn more about this week's commencement ceremonies.

May 8, 2024

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