From Student to Professor: Dr. Susan Jacobson Closes a 39-Year Chapter at MCPHS

A teacher, leader, and alum, Jacobson’s career helped shape the University she called home.

After nearly four decades of shaping future pharmacists at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), Dr. Susan Jacobson retired from her role as Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice.

Dr. Jacobson, EdD, MS, RPh, has been part of the MCPHS Community since she earned her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1980. Since then, she has watched MCPHS transform.

“When I attended MCPHS, all we had was pharmacy. Now there’s a range of healthcare programs to choose from, more scientists, more research, interprofessional collaboration,” she said. “So much has changed, and I got to watch it happen.”

Dr. Jacobson’s dedication to pharmacy began early—at the age of 5—behind the register at her family’s Cambridge pharmacy. “I was selling our customers The New York Times and The Boston Globe. I took care of the whole candy department. And when I was 8, I started making deliveries,” she said.

Her father died suddenly when she was 14, but her mother kept the business going, modeling a resilience and purpose that would guide Dr. Jacobson’s path to MCPHS. Though she chose not to continue the family business after graduation, she credits that upbringing for her work ethic and interest in the field.

“I wanted to explore my interest in hospital pharmacy, so my mom sold the business, and I went on to hospital practice,” she said. “But my father was my inspiration. It was always my goal to be a pharmacist because of him.”

In 1986, after earning her master’s degree in hospital pharmacy administration, Dr. Jacobson returned to MCPHS as an adjunct assistant professor to precept students in the professional pharmacy practice lab, an operational pharmacy where students practiced the functional skills of being a pharmacist. During this time, she also worked full-time at Mount Auburn Hospital. Drawing on her hospital experience, she brought a wider scope to the curriculum.

“I created hospital-based patient profiles and doctor’s orders for students practicing in the lab.” she said. “The goal was to give them the opportunity for a hands-on experience on some aspects of institutional practice before they went out on their clinical rotations, and eventually into the working world.”

In 1995, Dr. Jacobson transitioned to full-time faculty in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. Motivated to further her understanding of teaching, she went on to earn her Doctor of Education through a distance learning program at Nova Southeastern University. Throughout her career, she said she balanced teaching with outside pharmacy work to stay in touch with developments in the field and include information from the situations she encountered in her teaching.

Her contributions to MCPHS include coordinating and lecturing in many courses across the PharmD curriculum.  She was a clinical faculty preceptor for students completing rotations, and served as a faculty advisor for the MCPHS student chapter of the National Community Pharmacists Association for 15 years.

She said her students would describe her as firm but fair—an approach she believes is necessary in preparing healthcare professionals. “As a pharmacist, you are an integral part of the healthcare team.  You need to be the best you can be and make the best decisions for a positive outcome,” she said.

In the coming months, Dr. Jacobson said she will spend more time with family and friends—and reflect on the memories and connections she made at MCPHS. And even as she steps away from the classroom, Dr. Jacobson is not closing the door on pharmacy entirely. “I’m not giving up my license,” she said.