Growing up in Coventry, Rhode Island, Rylee Campbell always had a fascination with the mystery of science, trying to figure out how and why things worked, and “putting the building blocks together to paint the larger picture.” She also had a passion for helping others, so it seemed a career in a medical field would be a perfect fit for her.
There was only one problem.
“I was actually afraid of needles, so I knew I didn’t want to be a doctor or a nurse, or someone who was hands-on like that,” said Campbell, who, before learning the full role of a pharmacist, decided the pharmacy profession would be a good compromise. “You can imagine my shock when I found out pharmacists give vaccines. So I had to get over that fear pretty quickly.”
Campbell approached the problem head-on once she started her professional years in the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, taking immunization certification as her first Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience rotation. She administered about 50 vaccinations a week and practiced performing injections with classmates and roommates until she became comfortable with the process. “I knew I had this fear, I just wanted to sit in the vaccine room and get over it. So I just really kind of cut the fear out. And now I have no problem giving them.”
Such a direct approach to problem solving ultimately led Campbell to the pharmacy profession over her initial plans for ophthalmology, and specifically to the URI College of Pharmacy. After hearing about her home state’s university offering a 0-6 doctor of pharmacy program—which allows students to earn their Pharm.D. in as little as six years, without having to reapply to graduate school—Campbell immediately toured the campus with her dad and began shadowing an ambulatory care pharmacist at Rhode Island Primary Care Physicians Corporation to find out if pharmacy was for her. Both proved successful in leading her to the Kingston Campus.
“I loved the campus at URI, how it is kind of like its own little town. I wanted to be a part of a bigger school and be able to make a lot of different friends. It was really kind of drawing me in,” Campbell said, noting one tour convinced her URI was for her. “And for a pharmacy school specifically, the great reputation that URI pharmacy has, I wanted to be a part of that.”
Shadowing an ambulatory care pharmacist in high school, and now conducting medication reviews and drug information consults for patients at the same location proved to Campbell pharmacy was the field she wanted to go into. “It definitely prepares you to handle just about anything they throw at you. It’s kind of the first lesson to learn when dealing with a lot of patients,” Campbell said. “Building off that, I’ve just learned to love it. I love walking into a room and not knowing where we’re going to go in this conversation, just having that open mind and being ready to help the patient achieve whatever goals they want to set forward.”
Campbell plans to continue her role working directly with patients after graduating from URI in May. She will begin a residency in June in an ambulatory care-focused program at Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, where she’ll work with patients in the school’s primary care clinics, and teach younger students in the classroom. It’s a career she hopes to continue well into the future, possibly back where it all began. In her mind, teaching and patient care go hand-in-hand.
“I would love to end up back in Rhode Island in a similar position teaching students and giving lectures and being in academia, but also having that kind of patient-facing role, where I can sit down with my patients and start building trusting relationships with them,” Campbell said. “Education is a huge part of it to me. With patients, you’re almost solving a puzzle, trying to fit together the pieces of what they believe and what they’re comfortable with, and what you know is going to be best. I really enjoy trying to fit those pieces together to give them the best outcome.”
Campbell’s fond memories of URI could one day lead her back to the Kingston Campus. Specifically, she remembers April 8, 2024, the day of a total solar eclipse that saw much of the campus community gathered on the Quad to watch the celestial show.
“The Quad was packed with people. We had a lab that day, so we were all in our business professional wear, but we had those funky glasses on and we’re all laying on the Quad watching,” Campbell said. “We’re all going to disperse and go into our own labs and classes soon, but for now we’re all coming together as a community to watch this. That memory was really great. I just remember thinking, this is what I love about URI.”
During her six years in Kingston, she worked closely with several professors, especially Clinical Professor Erica Estus, Director of Accreditation Matthew Lacroix, and Assistant Professor Joeseph Nardolillo, who “helped kind of push me when I didn’t think I could do as much as I can. He’s the one who said, no you can absolutely do this.” Campbell worked with Nardolillo on a systematic review of the collaboration among pharmacists and community health center professionals to help provide medical education and adherence in communities. She also worked with him at Rhode Island Primary Care Physicians Corporation, and in her role as regent of the Kappa Psi Beta Epsilon Chapter at URI while Nardolillo served as the professional fraternity chapter’s faculty advisor.
“One of the things I admire most about Rylee is how effortlessly she tackles a challenge,” Nardolillo said. “Her demeanor and maturity is truly a calming force, even within a stressful situation. I have witnessed so much growth in a short period of time, and I have no doubt that URI is only the beginning of Rylee’s influential career. As a fearless, service-driven leader, she is ready to ask the right questions, tackle the big problems, and continue her exponential growth. We are so lucky to have her as a part of our network of URI students who not only make an impact on our campus, but go out into the world to change the lives of patients.”
For now, Campbell is enjoying her final days in Rhode Island before moving to Ohio in June. But she has a feeling she isn’t done with her home state, or her home state’s university.
“There’s so much about URI that I just came to love, all the little quirks, and all the people. I would absolutely choose URI again,” Campbell said. “URI took me further than I would ever expect. It took me all over the United States; I met so many different people and made so many connections. I got to experience so many different programs. It encompassed everything and more.”