[Rx2021] Welcome to two new Associate Director of Experiential Learning and Director of Communications!

[Kroboth, Patricia D]

Join me in welcoming Dr. Rhea Bowman, Director of Communications and Dr. Ashley Yarabinek, Associate Director of Experiential Learning.

Today, Rhea (Santangelo) Bowman, PharmD and Ashley (Toale) Yarabinec, PharmD are joining us as faculty in the School of Pharmacy.  You may remember both as students in our PharmD program who are graduates in the Class of 2011.  In alphabetical order, I present Dr. Rhea Bowman and Dr. Ashley Yarabinek.

Rhea Bowman, PharmD is joining us as Director of Communications and will have a faculty appointment in the Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics.  You may remember Rhea as the class representative for four years. Rhea has a background in communications stemming from her Bachelor of Arts in English Writing (2006) from Pitt.  Thus, she brings with her dual credentials in pharmacy and communications.

As Director of Communications she will manage consultants to PittPharmacy, including graphics artist, free-lance writers and videographers; will oversee website, will be our contact for Event Notifications and all things communication, and will serve as liaison with Pitt and UPMC communications specialists. Her goal is to leverage our work across platforms, including the classroom and print, digital and social media and enhance the PittPharmacy reputation.

After graduation, Dr. Bowman worked first for CVS Pharmacy, then found her niche with CVS Caremark, the managed care pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager arm of CVS Health. There, her communication skills propelled her success with patients and with management. She worked remotely and developed a consulting interprofessional practice that physicians and other prescribers accessed nationwide for the management of difficult patients. She also developed programming for student pharmacists (nationally) for their introductory and advanced professional pharmacy experiences.

Her communications expertise includes publishing a book as an undergraduate student, editing the “Residency Times” for CVS, serving as ambassador and liaison between employees and upper management, and holding a client-facing role working with representatives from large commercial clients offering feedback, developing pilot programs and working to improve star ratings for CMS reimbursement. In addition, she has social media savvy with over 1200 followers for her hobby, which is similar to magazine layout.

Dr. Bowman’s experience includes being selected as spokesperson; she was one of two student spokespersons for the ill-fated Semester-at-Sea cruise ship in 2005 that was hit by a freak 50-foot wave, damaging the ship and requiring rescue. That event ended the 24-year Pitt-sponsored national program. Her presentations appeared in national and local media.  As a PharmD student, she made a formal presentation at the APPRISE annual conference to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Director and other attendees to promote statewide duplication of the program.

Welcome back to PittPharmacy, Dr. Bowman!



Dr. Yarabinec is joining us as the Associate Director of the Experiential Learning Program.  She joins Director Ms. Sue Skledar as Director, Ms. Anna Schmotzer, Coordinator of the program, Dr. Jim Pschirer and the entire Experiential Learning Committee of Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) course coordinators for P1 through P3. She is joining a team that has a huge responsibility!

Together, the team coordinates placement of 343 P1, P2 and P3 students with 247 IPPE preceptors.  In addition, they manage the placements of 113 P4 students (class of 2020) in 904 rotations with 389 Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences preceptors.  Talk about personalizing education!

More about Dr. Yarabinec:  After leaving PittPharmacy, she completed a community pharmacy practice residency and was selected as chief resident at the University at Buffalo, where she also completed a clinical research fellowship.  She is a Board Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (BCGP) and is a Board Certified Advanced Diabetes Management (BC-ADM); in addition, she is a Certified Specialist and Trainer for the Delivery of Medication Therapy Management Services.

After completing her fellowship, she became a primary care clinical pharmacist in a physician’s office practice, then moved to a faculty position at the University of North Texas System College of Pharmacy. In her most position as Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Allegheny General Hospital, she served as residency advisor and clinical preceptor as well as a research preceptor for numerous residents.

Fortunately for us, she sought to return to PittPharmacy in her new role in Experiential Learning, where she seeks to work with preceptors in meaningful ways and guide students on their way to becoming licensed pharmacists who excel.  Dr. Yarabinec brings a wealth of experiences that will help her succeed as one of the leaders of our Experiential Learning Program.

Welcome back to PittPharmacy, Dr. Yarabinec!

May everyone in our PittPharmacy family be healthy and happy in 2021.



Patricia D. Kroboth, Dean


Patricia D Kroboth, Dean
Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy Distinguished Service Professor
School of Pharmacy
University of Pittsburgh

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