Gigi Davidson advocates for animals
A longtime veterinary pharmacy educator, the Tar Heel wants pharmacy professional organizations to consider animals as patients.
Gigi Davidson ’83, a UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy alumna, advocates for veterinary pharmacy practice and recognition of animals as patients by professional pharmacy organizations. Veterinary pharmacists are a unique resource, and the field is growing with the help of experts like Davidson who help the community.
Davidson started her own company, Vet Pharm Consulting, to assist veterinary teaching hospitals in analyzing their pharmacy practices, regulatory compliance and review their compounding practices and workflow.
She also works with independent contractors on animal drug projects and assists in helping them meet regulatory requirements for getting their animal products to market, usually drug- and supplement-related products. She visits vet schools across the U.S. and teaches pharmacists, veterinarians and pharmacy and veterinary students. Davidson also consults with clients about their animal patient’s medication issues, referring them to a veterinary specialist or general practitioner depending on their needs.
Her passion for veterinary pharmacy started early on when she was a student at Carolina.
“There’s a reason UNC is the top pharmacy school in the country. The faculty and instructors are so invested in pharmacy practice and quality,” said Davidson. “They were one of the first schools back in the late 1980s to allow pharmacy students to go on veterinary rotations. They were also the first to allow veterinary pharmacy residents into the teaching certificate program at UNC. They’ve always been open armed and welcome students with this interest.”
After her time at Carolina, she worked at NC State’s veterinary teaching hospital. Davidson then worked her way up to the director of pharmacy role, a position she held for 35 years with NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine. As director, she ran clinical services and research, and a hospital pharmacy along with teaching veterinary, pharmacy and pharmacy technician students.
She eventually returned to Carolina as an instructor for the school’s veterinary pharmacy elective, a position she held until 2018.
Davidson now owns her own company, Vet Pharm Consulting, to continue assisting veterinary teaching hospitals around the U.S. in their veterinary pharmacy practices. (Submitted photo)
When Davidson isn’t running her business, consulting with animal care teams or teaching, she focuses on veterinary pharmacy advocacy work. Her goal is for major pharmacy professional organizations to consider animals as patients. As part of the research to determine how many pharmacists provide regular care for animals, she and a veterinary resident at NC State, Dr. Emily Campbell, found that 77% of pharmacists routinely provide pharmaceutical care and fill prescriptions for animal patients.
“Pharmacists are the only health care professionals that are legally permitted to provide care for all species. Advocacy has been the biggest way to gain awareness,” said Davidson. “Making professional pharmacy organizations aware of the depth and breadth of our practice has been critical.”
Over the last six years, she has been very active in the American Pharmacists Association House of Delegates and the American College of Veterinary Pharmacists to provide visibility into veterinary pharmacy practice. She is currently working with a small team of veterinary pharmacy experts on a petition to the Board of Pharmacy Specialties to recognize Veterinary Pharmacy Practice as their 15th board-certified specialty in pharmacy practice. Her hope is that one day veterinary pharmacists will be credentialed specialists that have demonstrated their expertise in caring for nonhuman patients.
Davidson works with pharmacy schools by helping veterinary pharmacy student chapters get started through interest groups or set up actual student chapters of the American College of Veterinary Pharmacists so students can have support at their universities.
She recently received the Pharmacy Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy to recognize her commitment to the veterinary pharmacy community.
“It’s so gratifying to be recognized by an amazing group of people,” said Davidson.
