The late Rawley M. Guerrero, PharmD, MBA, FASHP, was remembered for his many contributions to pharmacy education and training at a reception for winners of the 2009 ASHP Research and Education Foundation’s Pharmacy Residency Excellence Awards held during the Midyear Clinical Meeting in Las Vegas.
Dr Guerrero was deeply committed to postgraduate training and was instrumental in establishing the residency awards program. "It is quite conceivable that the awards program might not exist without Rawley’s input," said friend and colleague Richard deLeon, PharmD, director of pharmacy affairs at Amgen, Inc. Dr Guerrero served on the ASHP Commission on Credentialing from 1994 to 2000, as vice chair from 1997 to 1998, and as chair from 1999 to 2000. His two terms of service on the commission "speak well not only of his commitment to postgraduate education but also to the respect that his peers had for his background and commitment," Dr deLeon said.
At the time of his death last year, Dr Guerrero was a senior marketing manager with Pharmacy Affairs, part of Segment Marketing at Amgen, Inc., Thousand Oaks, California. Earlier in his career, he was associate pharmacy director at the University Hospital in Salt Lake City, pharmacy director at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Integris Health in Oklahoma City, and the University of Miami/Jackson Health System, and medical education and research liaison for TAP Pharmaceuticals in Miami. While at Jackson Memorial, a municipal hospital, he established a clinical residency program despite the limited funding available for the program, Dr deLeon said. "He did what he needed to get it done."
Dr Guerrero received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, his doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of the Pacific, and his master of business administration degree from the University of Miami.
With his combination of academic and industry experience, Dr Guerrero was uniquely qualified to advise students about career opportunities. At Amgen, he worked with other staff members to create internships for students at nearby schools of pharmacy. "He was full of ideas and had a lot of energy to devote to students, residents, and fellows. We routinely referred students to him for career counseling," Dr deLeon recalls. "He will be greatly missed."