College of Pharmacy Alumnus Named NCPA 2024 National Preceptor of the Year
| Matt Garner, Pharm.D., a 2018 graduate of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy, received the 2024 National Preceptor of the Year Award from the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Foundation as part of its annual convention, held Oct. 26-29 in Columbus, Ohio.
The award recognizes a pharmacist who has made a significant contribution to the education of pharmacy students as a preceptor in a community practice setting.
“We are so excited to see Dr. Garner recognized with this national award,” said Cindy Stowe, Pharm.D., dean of the College of Pharmacy. “He is approachable and generous with his time in helping educate the next generation of students. You can’t be in a room with Matt and not get excited about the profession of pharmacy.”
Garner owns Garner Family Pharmacy in Jonesboro and has been a preceptor for first- and fourth-year pharmacy students from the College of Pharmacy since 2019, beginning with Cornerstone Pharmacy Lakewood in North Little Rock and again after opening his own pharmacy in 2020. So far, he has precepted more than two dozen pharmacy students.
“Truly, I am so honored to receive this award,” Garner said. “I just wanted to be able to work with pharmacy students and show them things that I have learned, or wish I had seen when I was in their position. I had multiple great preceptors [as a pharmacy student] and they molded me into the pharmacist I am today.”
“As an independent pharmacy owner, we have so many new challenges that none of us could have predicted, and the next batch of owners need to know what they are going up against,” Garner added. “These future owners need to know that this is still an overwhelmingly rewarding profession — we just have some new obstacles we have to navigate.”
Garner said his focus as a preceptor has changed over the years. Initially, he worked on teaching students the everyday aspects of running a pharmacy. After opening Garner Family Pharmacy, he added more of a business focus, including inventory management, insurance and purchasing, as well as looking at the pharmacy’s actual financial information.
“Students really enjoy that part,” Garner said of the financial aspect. “Since we are such a young pharmacy, we have a fresh take on what it’s like doing a startup, and not everyone gets to take an open deep dive at the heart of a business.”
As a College of Pharmacy student, Garner was a member of the college’s 2017 NCPA business plan team that won nationals that year. He graduated from Jonesboro High School and attended Missouri State University – West Plains and Harding University in Searcy before obtaining his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the College of Pharmacy in 2018.
The NCPA Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established in 1953 to honor John W. Dargavel, who was executive secretary of the National Association of Retail Druggists, now NCPA. The NCPA Foundation promotes the sustainability and growth of independent community pharmacies through scholarships, grants, and ownership development.