Jim Hoehns cares for patients and conducts research in his role at the UI College of Pharmacy, and brings learners along with him.

Hoehns is a clinical associate professor for the college. However, like others on the college’s faculty, he spends much of his time as a practicing pharmacist -- working as a family medicine pharmacist with the MercyOne Northeast Iowa Family Medicine program in Waterloo.  It is a role he has been in since 1995.

Hoehns is involved in teaching drug therapy to Family Medicine residents, students working toward their Doctor of Pharmacy degrees, and recent pharmacy graduates who have matched as residents with MercyOne.

A former pharmacy student said: “Dr. Hoehns is very passionate about pharmacy, teaching, and family. He makes the rotation site very hands-on and truly helps students become more involved in interprofessional relationships with both attending physicians and medical residents. He continually asks clinical questions that involve areas of gray in pharmacy, and promotes ongoing education.”

“Dr. Hoehns is very passionate about pharmacy, teaching, and family. He continually asks clinical questions that involve areas of gray in pharmacy, and promotes ongoing education."

While working with patients, Hoehns—also research director at Northeast Iowa Medical Education Foundation—also studies how to improve their outcomes. He does this through participating in clinical trials of new medication therapies or testing new roles for pharmacists on patient teams.

Since the pandemic began, Hoehns has participated in research. 

• His practice site participated in a clinical trial for a then-experimental Covid-19 treatment to see if it could keep patients off ventilators.
• Hoehns and his team tested medications to potentially treat and prevent Alzheimer’s. 
• The family medicine clinic, led by Hoehns, collaborated with nearby Greenwood Pharmacy to provide pre-visit community pharmacy medication information about patients to physicians who were about to see them.

Hoehns received his bachelor's and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degrees from the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy.  He then completed a specialty pharmacy residency in Family Medicine in 1995 at the University of Iowa Family Practice Center. He also has earned a certification in pharmacotherapy (BCPS).  He is also a fellow in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (FCCP), which recognizes excellence in the practice and science of clinical pharmacy.

Hoehns is a past recipient of the college's Teacher of the Year and Faculty Preceptor Excellence awards.