Ishimwe Masozera, PharmD

Hometown: Pearland, TX

Education: Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel School of Pharmacy (College Station, TX)

Research/QI: Evaluation of Appropriate Z-Drug Prescribing Before and After Pharmacist Led Education

Why VA Houston: The Michael E. DeBakey VA Houston is one of the flagship VA’s in the nation, with a large primary care department and multiple specialties and subspecialties, and several CBOC’s in the fourth largest city in the United States of America. Their pharmacy residency program is well known and sought after and offers several opportunities of training in multiple disciplines. At the age of 15, that is when my love for service was made clear, when I chose to celebrate my birthday by serving at the St. John’s Soup kitchen in Houston, TX.

Many of the homeless there were veterans, and following that, I sought out an opportunity to shadow at the Michael E. DeBakey VA in the summer of 2012. A few years later, I chose to return as an undergraduate student and shadowed a Clinical Pharmacist.  From that time, I knew that I wanted to work at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Houston. To top it all off, my father served at the Michael E. DeBakey VA for 16 years, and through him I understood President Lincoln’s promise to veterans “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. It is an honor therefore, to be a part of the class of 2024 pharmacy residency cohort.