Logan Van Ravenswaay
Major: Pharmacy
Healthcare Education and Outcomes Postdoctoral Fellow with Clinical Education Alliance (CEA)

Why did you declare Pharmacy as your major?  
In high school, I was always interested in the health professions but couldn’t quite narrow the list down any further. I started to discuss different career avenues with family and members of my community, and they suggested I look into pharmacy. The profession quickly grabbed my attention as I was excited by the opportunity to blend clinical science with public health.

What is your current position and how did Butler help prepare you for this role?  
I am completing a two-year postdoctoral fellowship focusing on healthcare education and outcomes analytics with Clinical Education Alliance. From my participation in a couple research projects with Butler faculty members, I knew that I wanted to pursue something non-traditional in terms of a career. With this vision in mind, I worked with the CaPS team to navigate applications and interviews confidently. A lot of the experiences I had at Butler—both in and out of the classroom—offered transferable skills that allowed me to hit the ground running once I graduated.

Who at Butler inspired you the most and why?
With Butler’s low student-to-faculty ratio, I was fortunate to have many inspiring connections during my time on campus. The Pharmacy faculty was extremely supportive, and they had a huge impact on my professional development. The Pharmacy program itself is a very close-knit community. Having outstanding classmates by my side helped me navigate the coursework.  

What is your favorite part of your job? 
My favorite part of my job is diving deep into new therapeutic areas that I have not previously worked in to examine and identify real-world problems affecting healthcare professionals and the patients they care for. This work allows me to make connections with HCPs across numerous specialties to learn what they and their patients need most. Using this information, I work alongside devoted professionals from a variety of backgrounds to design strategies and launch educational activities to improve health outcomes by filling in these educational gaps. This position allows me to translate complex clinical data coming from clinical trials into digestible and accessible educational activities.

What are your long-term career goals?
My career ambitions are to serve as a bridge between the latest emerging data and real-world practice. Recognizing that there is often a delay between emerging evidence and practice change, I want to work in a strategy-focused position where I can work alongside like-minded individuals tasked with improving patient outcomes via education and other scientific communications.

What advice do you have for current Butler students?
Butler’s location within the Indianapolis area means quite literally that you are a “small fish in a big pond.” I would encourage you to take full advantage of this. Explore what the city has to offer and cherish the relationships you build along the way. Your time at Butler will come and go, but those relationships will live much longer.