Written by Neil Rivenburgh

On August 15th, the attendees at the PMI Healthcare forum was informed and entertained by Dr. Jerrica Dodd, founder and CEO of Your Pharmacy Advocate, LLC. Your Pharmacy Advocate is a personalized pharmacy consulting service company. Her presentation “How to Leverage Your Project Manager Strengths in an Unfamiliar Role” addressed how a Project Managers can support a startup founder or a new business owner in driving multiple projects and initiatives forward.

Dr. Dodd has 20 years of experience in the pharmacy industry. Over the past year she has dedicated herself to growing a startup company called Your Pharmacy Advocate. She believes “everyone needs a pharmacist advocate in their life”. Her desire to pursue this opportunity spun from a series of medical situations with herself and her parents where she had to advocate for the best possible care. The average person would not been equipped to do so.

Dr. Dodd asked the audience, “Have you ever found yourself in an unfamiliar situation?” This is where she found herself when trying to grow and develop a start-up company. After some hesitation, she decided, “you just have to move!” And move she did.

As she started her new endeavor, Dr. Dodd realized she would need capable individuals in order to reach her goal. She enlisted a good Project Manager and other key roles to drive her vision forward. She considered her own role to be one of building future leaders and executives who would continue to grow the company.

Dr. Dodd’s suggestions for career success and development were outlined as:

  • Understand the mission and vision of the organization you are joining      
  • Learn the company culture and how to add to it
  • Do your research – study the company’s social media posts and website
  • Learn about the industry segment
  • Understand the governing bodies
  • Be Flexible
  • Be coachable
  • Commit to something bigger than yourself
  • Commit to grow others around you
  • Never stop learning

Please join us Wednesday, September 19th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Healthcare Forum for the:

Keynote Presentation: “Population Health and U.S. Healthcare System: Opportunities for Project Management Applications” presented by Dr. Imoh Okon, Georgia State University/ Assistant Professor, Clinical Research PhD. MSc, MPH (c), PMP

Location: Philips Healthcare

PHA Academy
One Deerfield Centre
13560 Morris Road
Alpharetta, GA 30004

About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves Project Management Community in Metro Atlanta, and we're an active resource to corporations, community and government agencies throughout north Georgia. With over 5,000 members, PMI Atlanta is among the top 5 chapters in the world. Our professional expertise span across industries; we’re the professionals building healthcare information technology systems, the engineers developing smarter public transportation, and the planners growing our communities more efficiently.