Emma Gautreaux, PharmD, MBA

Dr. Emma Gautreaux is a 2021 graduate of the College of Pharmacy (COP) obtaining both her Doctorate in Pharmacy as well as a Master's in Business Administration. She completed her pre-pharmacy coursework at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA, and decided to pursue the PharmD/MBA combination degree during her second year in the professional pharmacy program.

Gautreaux is originally from Bourg, LA. She said her usual spiel for people unfamiliar with Bourg goes as follows: “It’s about 30 minutes south of Houma!” If they don’t know Houma, “it’s about 45 minutes southeast of New Orleans!” And if they did not know there was land south of New Orleans, “I used to take my pirogue to school!” Gautreaux is the oldest of three with two younger twin brothers, Jason and Mitch, who joined the Marines after high school. Jason and his wife are expecting a baby girl in April, so “Aunt” will be a new title for Gautreaux very soon. Her father works in the oil field and her mom is a principal at an elementary school. Her mom completed a master’s degree while Gautreaux and her brothers were in junior high school. She said growing up she didn’t realize what an accomplishment that was, but she understands now and wanted to give a shoutout to her mom!

On why she chose ULM, she says, “I loved my small high school experience and the fact that everyone knew my name and was rooting for me. When I walked into the Bienville building for the first time, it felt just like that.” She said people greeting each other in the hall by name, smiling and having a good time, it was clear that here at ULM she would be known as “Emma,” and not just “a student.” She knew she would have people rooting for her while she tackled the very difficult task of pharmacy school. Now, as a graduate, she can confidently say that her initial feeling was correct. “ULM College of Pharmacy challenged me, but the faculty and staff made it a priority to make sure I had everything I needed to dominate those challenges.”

When asked what areas of pharmacy she is passionate about, Gautreaux said she is passionate about pharmacy education in general. As a recent graduate, she said that she obviously has very little experience in the area, but she isn’t sure how someone could teach and decide they didn’t like it! Expanding further, she said, “watching our students take the foundational knowledge we teach them and turn it into something brilliant is downright rewarding.” She sees a lot of room for innovation and creativity withing pharmacy education. How can we keep students curious and asking questions? How can we tailor our teaching to meet student’s individual needs? These are questions she thinks about and gets excited to explore. Having that passion for pharmacy education helped her decide shortly after graduation that she did not want to leave the ULM COP and last June she accepted the position of Academic Leadership Fellow here at the college.

Her advice to those looking for a career in pharmacy falls in line with her current position as Academic Leadership Fellow. She advises not to plan your career so rigidly that you let opportunities pass you by. She says, “take off the blinders, look around, and see what opportunities are waiting for you.” She said she hadn’t thought a career in academia was an option, so it was daunting to even consider applying for the fellowship. All that changed after she took Dr. Craft’s APPE rotation. She said she scheduled the rotation with hopes of learning how to use her MBA in the community pharmacy setting, as Dr. Craft also has an MBA. Instead, she learned that she enjoys academia! So, upon learning of the fellowship, she decided to apply, although it still wasn’t an easy choice to make. Many questions went through her head, but none compelling enough to pass up the opportunity, she says. “So here I am, and I’m happy with my choice. I still don’t know what I will do after my two-year fellowship is over; I have my plans of course, but I’m learning to take opportunities as they come,” said Gautreaux.

When she isn’t working at the COP or teaching, she has several hobbies to keep her busy. Gautreaux said, “I love to create things, but I have a short attention span and tend to jump from hobby to hobby.” She has recently enjoyed paper quilling–folding little strips of paper then arranging them into a picture. During the beginning of the pandemic, she also fell in love with beading, especially bead weaving and bead crocheting. She usually always has a bead project on the side no matter what she is doing. She also enjoys drinking wine, watching Netflix, listening to audiobooks, and spending time with her puppy.

We are grateful Dr. Gautreaux’s path led her to stay around after graduation and we will be excited to see where her career goes!