Professor Hae Mi Choe consults with a patient at her East Ann Arbor Health Center practice site. The Center is the locus of a UMHHC-wide Diabetes Quality Improvement Initiative.
ae Mi Choe, PharmD, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy and a clinical pharmacist at U-M Hospitals and Health Centers (UMHHC)-affiliated East Ann Arbor Health Center, was one of eight pharmacy educators nationwide to receive the 2008 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Crystal Apple Award.The Award recognizes pharmacist practitioner educators whose practices are considered benchmarks of excellence in advanced clinical education programs.
Choe has been a College of Pharmacy faculty member and UMHHC clinical pharmacist since 1999. A certified diabetes educator, Choe’s East Ann Arbor Health Center practice site currently treats almost 700 patients with diabetes. The Center is the locus of a UMHHC -wide Diabetes Quality Improvement Initiative. Due to these initiatives, UMHHC was selected one of the “Best Outcomes Teams” by the Association of American Medical Colleges and received the Pinnacle Award for Innovations in Diabetes Care by the Michigan Association of Health Plans. Her clinical team also has received the Innovations in Health Care Award by the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan.
Choe was the first pharmacist at UMHHC to receive credentialing for clinical pharmacy practice as well as to establish a collaborative practice agreement. The practice has been so successful that physicians have delegated authority to Choe for management of these patients, in advance. “I’ve had diabetes for about 12 years,” remarks Christopher Stieler, 54, a funeral director who has worked for R.J. Nixon in Wyandotte for 36 years, and a patient of Choe’s. “In all that time, I’ve been to many different doctors and Dr. Choe is the only health care professional who has truly been able to help me control my diabetes. She understands the disease. She also knows the medications that are available to treat it, as well as the limitations of these medications. Having seen what Dr. Choe has done for me, I know pharmacists can make a difference. I hope the U-M keeps her forever because I don’t know what I’d do if she left U-M.”
She has received many awards and honors for her exemplary practice and teaching. In addition to the Crystal Apple Award, Choe has received the Michigan Pharmacists’ Association Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award; the Pharmacy Today Top-10 One-to-One Patient Counseling Award; and the College of Pharmacy’s 2006 Teaching Excellence Award.
Her practice site is a perennial favorite for U-M Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students.
“Dr. Choe’s approach to patient care is one that clearly resonates with students,” says Bruce A. Mueller, PharmD, chair and professor in the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences at the College of Pharmacy, and associate director in the Department of Pharmacy Services, University Hospital. “Many students have told me that they changed their career path so they could emulate, in their practice, what Dr. Choe does hers. Her genuine compassion and concern for patients is evident in everything she does. She is a great clinician, a powerful motivator, and an exceptional human being.”
Choe, for her part, considers her clinical role one of personal responsibility and accountability. “ I consider it a privilege to work with patients, and that sense of privilege is a lesson I always stress to students,” notes Choe, “I try to teach students to look beyond the numbers in a patient’s chart; to look at the heart of who the person is; the struggles they have managing their disease; the impact of those struggles on their lives and the lives of their families. By doing this, I gain insight, and this insight helps me understand what I need to do to help out. That’s where the rewards are for me.”
