Katie Vandenberg, Pharm.D., Class of 2016
Tennessee Vaccination Services
Katie is the owner and founder of Tennessee Vaccination Services, a mobile, independent pharmacy that provides in-home vaccinations for homebound patients and facilitates community outreach vaccination clinics across Middle Tennessee.
While working as a traditional retail pharmacist for several years, Katie developed close relationships with her patients, who were also her neighbors. After the birth of her son Jack in 2016, she noticed (and empathized with) something new about her patients with children–how challenging it can be to get kids dressed, ready and into the car…only to then wait for a vaccination at the pharmacy.
With her background in microbiology, Katie always enjoyed learning about vaccines in school. She began floating the idea of in-home vaccinations with her community and received great interest. After several months of consideration, Katie followed her dream to launch a mobile vaccination pharmacy in 2019. In February of 2020, Tennessee Vaccination Services became a licensed pharmacy with the state of Tennessee!
“During my time at Belmont’s School of Pharmacy, one of my professors, Dr. Thompson-Odom, had a positive impact on my life. She believed in my abilities to pull through rough times, even when I didn’t. Her support helped me develop a sense of security in my abilities when I faced what seem like unsurmountable challenges.”
Dr. Shaneika Guice, Pharm.D., Class of 2014
Vanderbilt University Medical Center Cardiology Clinical Pharmacist
Shaneika works side-by-side with providers and nurses to care for patients and make decisions on their medication therapy in the Cardiology Outpatient Clinic at the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute. Her team is focused on the high-risk, heart failure population where medication therapy is essential to decreasing hospitalizations and mortality rates.
Shaneika was hired as a pharmacist with Kroger immediately after graduating from Belmont’s College of Pharmacy, where she formed a strong community among her patients (and even performed life-saving CPR on a Kroger shopper!) After 10 years with Kroger, she moved to an in-hospital pharmacy position with Vanderbilt University Medical Center but quickly began to miss the close connections she formed with her patients. When Complex Cares Services (CCS) started at Vanderbilt a year later, a hiring manager invited her to apply.
Though she didn’t have direct experience with the role, she earned the position thanks to her dedication to caring for patients…an essential part of this position. Shaneika explained, “As the person that I am in Jesus Christ, it is always my mission to love others well. The fact that the hiring manager saw goodness in me and that being true to myself got me in this position blows my mind. I know that is nothing but God’s work.”
She now works in what she calls her dream position, counseling patients on their medication and providing care support that many don’t know they need. Her role helps her remain directly involved with patients to maximize medication therapy and reduce mortality rates. She is even able to be a resource to the community, offering medication education for individuals served by Loaves and Fishes, a local nonprofit providing meals to the hungry six days a week.