Alumnus shares his passion for patient care and education
It was a case of poison ivy that led John Holladay to a career in pharmacy.
“I managed to get a severe care of poison ivy while fishing on a creek bank when I was about 12 years old,” Holladay says. “As the pharmacist explained how the medicine that he prescribed would counteract what the poison ivy was doing to my body, I was really intrigued.”
A few years later when he was in chemistry class at Sumter High School, Holladay saw a brochure tacked to the wall that asked ‘Is Pharmacy Right for You?’ and remembered that encounter with the pharmacist.
Holladay graduated from the USC College of Pharmacy in 1992, then pursued a Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutics. He continued to work in community pharmacy and at the Palmetto Poison Center until he completed his Ph.D. in 1997.
His academic career took him and his wife, Susan, also a graduate of the college, to Howard University in Washington, D.C. and the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, Arkansas before returning to Sumter to become a partner in an independent pharmacy.
“Our kids were able to enjoy growing up near all of their family, and I was able to help tons of patients over the past 23 years,” he says. “I did not regret leaving academics for a second."
I like to see the students engaged in the process of how these concepts are intertwined to help people live longer and better lives. And isn’t that why we’re in pharmacy?
In 2015, the university offered him a faculty position. Holladay retired from full-time community pharmacy work in 2023 to devote more time to teaching. His background provides students with a valuable connection between basic sciences and clinical pharmacy.
“I like introducing basic science topics to the students and showing them the relevance," he says. "I like to see the students engaged in the process of how these concepts are intertwined to help people live longer and better lives. And isn’t that why we’re in pharmacy?”
Holladay is proud of his chosen profession and hopes fellow alumni will continue to help advance pharmacy as a career option.
“An encouraging word to support students goes a long way, and we need to share the positivity of our profession because we do good things,” he says. “Find a way to help, to get involved with the college if for no other reason than remembering how this place helped prepare you for a career to help others.”
Topics: Why Pharmacy?, Clinical Pharmacy & Outcomes Sciences, Alumni Programs