Program: Continuing Education
As a child, Courtney Patterson helped her mother and grandmother take care of her great-grandmother, who had ovarian cancer.
“Going to all the doctor’s appointments and seeing the medications infused really piqued my interest,” she said. “After my great-grandmother passed away when I was 8, the seed was planted and as I grew older, the field of pharmacy became interesting to me. With this profession, I can always help people get better or feel their best.”
Patterson now works at Advocate Health Care as the Director of Pharmacy for Advocate Medical Group – West Region and Advocate Physician Partners. She also teaches in the Pharmacy Technician program offered through Continuing Education at College of DuPage.
“Muhammad Ali is credited with saying, ‘Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.’ This is how I view teaching – by teaching the students that I serve and furthering the profession of pharmacy,” she said. “Teaching is also the way that I pay it forward for all the great instructions from the wonderful instructors who taught me.”
Her family continues to inspire her to strive for excellence, expand both her personal and professional growth, and to positively impact as many lives as possible. Patterson hopes every student she teaches understands that health care is a servant industry.
“People come to us when they are sick and at their most vulnerable, and it is our duty to serve them to reach their optimal health,” she said. “I also hope they take away an enthusiasm to become forever learners, continuously improving themselves, the health care profession and those people in their lives.”
More about Continuing Education’s Pharmacy Technician Program