Growing up in McGregor, Iowa, Gretchen Brummel had a front-row seat to her parents’ work running the town’s pharmacy—arguably the oldest continuously operating pharmacy at a single site in Iowa. Her father, Larry Brummel, is a 1969 University of Iowa (UI) College of Pharmacy graduate. The pharmacy first opened in 1872 and served the community until it closed this past December.
Brummel got her start in pharmacy there, working alongside her parents when she was old enough to do so. She followed the path to Luther College, where she completed her pre-pharmacy work before attending the UI College of Pharmacy. She received her PharmD in 1997.
Throughout her career, Brummel has supported the pharmacy profession in hospital, community, regulatory, long-term care, behavioral health, and corporate settings.
Her desire to give back to the profession brought Brummel back to the College of Pharmacy in January of 2025, as the Director of the Professional Experience Program (PEP).
Part of what excites Brummel about the role is the growth of the college and the broadening opportunities for pharmacists to care for patients, especially in the state of Iowa.
“We are seeing increasing student enrollment, and this is great news for patients and the profession,” she said. To accommodate that growth, Brummel and her team are prioritizing expanding the college’s experiential footprint by increasing rotation numbers and the types of experiences in which students can participate. They’re looking to grow into rural settings as well.
“This is a triple win in that it provides support to patients in our rural communities, allows students to get back to their home areas, and may provide a workforce pipeline to these areas as students immerse themselves in the communities,” Brummel said.
She explained that the work the PEP office oversees is vital to a pharmacy student's education, as they administer up to a third of the PharmD curriculum.
“It is in these experiences that students develop into practitioners and begin to firm up their own professional identities supporting life-changing decisions about where to work, the choice to do a residency, and areas of specialty interest,” she said. “The PEP office supports relationships with hundreds of preceptors and sites all over Iowa, the region, and the country. Preceptors and sites are critical to our mission and the success of the program.”
Brummel brings a wide range of pharmacy experience to her role—experience she believes offers valuable insight into the kinds of opportunities the college should provide students as it prepares them for practice and entrepreneurship.
Two areas Brummel is watching closely for impact on and opportunities for pharmacy are artificial intelligence and disaster preparedness and response.
“We are seeing growth in these two sectors for very different reasons, and pharmacists need to understand the landscape,” she said. “It's important to stay ahead of the curve in these spaces to best prepare our students for what they will face.”
She added that while there are mountains of data showing the impact of pharmacists on improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs, she feels the profession needs to work on creating more public awareness and demand for services outside of their usual silos.
This is where her leadership style of “yes” comes in handy.
“When presented with a challenge or barrier, I am less interested in hearing the ‘no, because’ reason we can't do something,” said Brummel. “Tell me the ‘yes, if’ scenario. What would it take to get us to yes? It’s a mindset shift that gets us all thinking about solutions instead of barriers and sets a positive intention.”
Beyond the Headlines
Recently, Brummel gave a presentation with fellow faculty member Kate Smith. The very next week, she learned that they shared great-grandparents. A family member made the connection after noticing a post Smith had ‘liked’ on LinkedIn and reached out to share the news. ‘What’s remarkable,’ Brummel said, ‘is that this couple gave rise to multiple generations of pharmacists — many of whom attended or now work at the UI College of Pharmacy.'
Great-Grandparents Ed and Henrietta (Vis) Dykstra, Hull, Iowa: A Pharmacy Legacy
- 2nd Generation: Dick Dykstra, pharmacist
- 3rd Generation and UI College of Pharmacy graduates
- Larry Brummel, '69 BSPh
- Richard Dykstra, '76 BSPh
- Emily Jo Dykstra, '84 BSPh
- 4th Generation
- Gretchen Brummel, '97 PharmD
- Joseph Vande Griend, '05 PharmD
- Kate Smith, UI College of Pharmacy associate professor of instruction