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College of Pharmacy Dean Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., left, and John Ridgeway, right, congratulate Kyle Peters, Pharm.D., the recipient of the 2009 College of Pharmacy Distinguished Teacher Award. |
The adjunct clinical associate professor lives in Sioux City, Iowa, and drives down to UNMC at various parts of the year to deliver pharmacotherapy lectures on issues such as diabetes management, irritable bowel syndrome, sexual dysfunction and asthma.
Back at the Siouxland Community Health Center in Sioux City, he hosts two students each month for ambulatory care rotations.
His humorous and understanding teaching style that he uses in lectures and on rotations led pharmacy students to select him for the award.
Below Dr. Peters reflects on the award, the rewards of teaching and life outside of work.
What do you like about teaching?
I like sharing what I know with others to increase their knowledge so they can provide safe and effective patient care. It is very rewarding to explain something to a student and see the “aha” moment when they get it. It is great to see the progression of students from pharmacy acceptance interviews to graduation and further training or their first job.
What does it mean to be honored by your students?
It is very humbling to be honored by the students. Students are very honest in their evaluation of the faculty. Listening to the student comments when the award was presented made me happy to realize that I had made a difference in something I said or did for the students. I now feel that there are higher expectations of me to do the best job of teaching, which will hopefully bring out the best in my teaching and the students’ learning.
Tells us about your life outside of work
I have been married for more than 10 years. I have three children — two daughters, ages 7 and 2 ½, and one boy, 5 ½. I enjoy spending time with my family, working in the garden, playing golf and going to church. I have many different jobs that I also perform outside of the classroom that increase my knowledge of pharmacy and allows me to impact more lives.