Family Tradition

Virtually since its inception, the College has been a major stepping stone to a better life for its graduates. That, in itself, makes the annual commencement a significant event. But there’s an added dimension for some new graduates: the continuation of a family tradition.

Two students in the PharmD Class of 2003 — Ted Scott, PharmD’03, and Stacey Krol, PharmD’03 — fit that definition. Ted is the son of alumnus Walter V. Scott, BSPharm’63, MSPharm’66; Stacey, the daughter of alumnus Robert W. Krol, BSPharm’78.

“I probably would not have gone into pharmacy if my dad was not a pharmacist,” Ted observes. “He was the manager of McAuley Pharmacy operations in Brighton and Howell when I was growing up. I often came into the stores to lend a hand after school.”

Walter recalls that Ted’s apprenticeship started when he was about 11 years old. With his tech on Christmas vacation, Walter brought his son to work to help out. “Pharmacy’s been in his blood ever since,” Walter notes.

“The stores my dad managed filled prescriptions for about 20 fostercare facilities,” Ted recalls. “Each prescription had to be put in unit dose cards and ironed shut. After a while, I became familiar with patients’ names and the medications they were taking, and would quiz my dad on what various drugs were for.”

By the time he was in his teens, Ted began to have more direct interactions with patients, getting to know many of them by name and condition. That’s when he noticed that many of the patients who came into the stores his father managed would ask for his dad by name, even when there were other pharmacists on hand to provide counseling services.

“They had complete trust in whatever my dad would say to them,” Ted reflects. “I think that’s when I started to become interested in pharmacy as a career.

“My dad never pressured me to enter the profession of pharmacy. He wanted me to do whatever made me happy. But I know he felt proud
when I did decide to go to pharmacy school, especially since I was going to Michigan.”

Stacey Krol’s decision to pursue a career in pharmacy unfolded differently.

“I attended Michigan State University after high school, thinking I’d become a physician,” she observes. “My dad fully supported that idea. But the more I investigated medical school and the life of a physician, the less appeal the profession had. When I decided to go to pharmacy school instead, I think my dad was initially disappointed — not because he thought pharmacy was a bad choice, but rather because he had already become used to the idea of me being a physician.

“The deeper I got into pharmacy school, the more my dad could see how much I enjoyed it and how much the profession meant to me. As graduation approached, and again after watching me march during commencement, he has told me how very proud he is of me.

“The fact that my father is a pharmacist is the number one reason that I decided to go into pharmacy,” Stacey adds. “Actually, Michigan’s College of Pharmacy was the only pharmacy school that I wanted to attend. If I had not been accepted at U-M, I would have remained at Michigan State and not gone into pharmacy at all.

“I don’t remember watching my father at work when I was a child,” remarks Stacey, “but I do remember thinking that, someday, I wanted to provide for my family the way my dad’s profession enabled him to provide for us.

“It is really great to have so much in common with my dad, and I know he feels the same way.”

Her dad emphatically agrees.

“I relived my own College graduation when I saw Stacey on stage, and the experience reminded me just how important our profession is, and how much it means to me, too,” Robert observes.

At this writing, both Stacey and Ted had set their sights on a career in community practice.

Walter Scott is a staff pharmacist at Pinckney Drug Store in Pinckney, Mich.; Robert Krol holds two positions: one as a community pharmacist at Rite Aid in West Branch, the other as a hospital pharmacist at West Branch Regional Medical Center.