JTC 25: Double Doctor

When she graduates from the University of Mississippi in May, Emily Gravlee will be a “doctor, doctor.” She earned a Doctor of Pharmacy in 2020 and will soon have a Ph.D. in pharmacy administration — all because of her desire to help.

A native of Prattville, Alabama, Gravlee says that health care has always been an interest.

Having a close family member struggle with addiction that led to incarceration, Gravlee saw the disparity between health care and education while waiting to visit her loved one. She knew she wanted to help make a change.

“I saw that difference, and I wanted to in some way work towards getting rid of it,” Gravlee said. “And so, I always knew that I wanted to work towards giving everyone a better opportunity to be healthy and to help in some way.”

Becoming a pharmacist was the solution.

“I picked it is because pharmacists always appeared to be so accessible to me,” the Robert Smith, MD, Graduate Scholar said. "In theory, anyone could walk in off the street and ask a pharmacist some sort of health-related question. And so, the public health spin of pharmacy is what led me to pursue it.”

During her time at Ole Miss, she certainly made her mark in helping the public.

One of her published works she’s most proud of is her master’s thesis. She studied the accessibility to naloxone, the antidote for opioid overdoses, from Mississippi pharmacies under the state standing order that permits pharmacists to dispense the drug without a prescription.

Her results at the time indicated that only a small percentage — 37% — of Mississippi pharmacies had the drug available for dispensing, and 41% of pharmacies were unwilling to dispense it.

“Having loved ones who have lived with addiction has really shaped my research,” she said. “It felt good to be that champion for people who may not even know about the standing order and to bring awareness of this law to save lives.”

Gravlee has a huge heart for making an impact and helping patients access the care they need to be healthy, said Meagan Rosenthal, associate professor of pharmacy administration. One of the accomplishments Rosenthal is most proud of for Gravlee is related to this research.

“She engaged with five or six different news agencies, and handled the engagements with professionalism and grace, despite being very nervous,” Rosenthal said. “She didn’t have to do this work, but she did it because it was important to share her findings with the wider public.”

Gravlee is also recognized as talented, cerebral, thoughtful and extremely hardworking by John Bentley, professor of pharmacy administration.

"She likes figuring stuff out and loves to learn,” he said. “From her, I have learned to be a better teacher because of the quality of her questions and her insight in our discussions has helped me develop new and different approaches to explain concepts.”

Her impact has also been recognized by pharmacy students as well as the Department of Pharmacy Administration. The first-year pharmacy students named Gravlee their Teacher Assistant of the Year for this school year.

She was also the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Mickey C. Smith and Dr. Dewey D. Garner Award, for being thegraduate student who embodies a strong commitment and extraordinary levels of service to the pharmacy administration department, the academic discipline of pharmacy administration and/or the pharmacy profession.

“Emily was the perfect first recipient of this award,” Bentley said.

Despite of the numerous accolades and honors, Gravlee admits she was at first uncertain whether to pursue her doctorate.

“I was really hesitant, but I wouldn't change it for anything,” she said. “I am so, so happy that I chose to invest in my education and invest in myself.

“I wanted to be able to answer questions that I had about how our health care system worked and how we could make it better. And I gave that to myself.”

See more photos from Emily Gravlee's Journey to Commencement