Local Receives Award For Outstanding Service

Mary-Jane Kanaczet, the Continuing Education Specialist in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island and a local to Narragansett, was recently honored as the recipient of the Rhode Island Pharmacist Association award for outstanding service to the profession.

 “I was very honored to get this award because in the College of Pharmacy, there aren’t a lot of people who aren’t pharmacists and I am one of them,” Kanaczet said.

“I started working with the RI Pharmacist Association recently because of my expertise in accreditation and since then, I have been accrediting their programs,” Kanaczet said.

Kanaczet explained that professionals in the pharmacy field have to attend a certain number of accredited conferences and seminars each year to keep up to date in their field and to keep their license. Kanaczet plans those events by coordinating speakers, the program locations, and making sure the program meets the 26-point criteria for it to be accredited.

She said she can’t take all the credit for what she does because she isn’t a pharmacist nor does she have a degree in pharmacy or even in the medical field.

“I got special training for administrators from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education,” Kanaczet said. “I have a whole team of faculty advisors that I work with on program content and delivery.”

Kanaczet received a bachelor’s degree in international relations from American University in Washington, D.C. in 1993 and worked in the study abroad and international programs field until three years ago, when she and her family moved back to Rhode Island and she got a job at URI working in the office for continuing education in the College of Pharmacy. She is now head of the department and coordinates all of the continuing education programs.

On a side note, career success seems to run in the family. Kevin Kanaczet, Mary-Jane's husband is a real estate agent with Bay Realty in Narragansett and was recently named one of the top agents in the quarter.