Woman Pharmacist Day 2020!

We recognize Dr. Natalie Robertson

Dr. Robertson is an alumna of our partner, Tallahassee Community College and Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy. Her story is a great example of the role community colleges and HBCUs have in promoting growth mindset and STEM identity among underrepresented minorities in STEM.

The path to becoming a Pharmacist was a winding one for Dr. Natalie Robertson, of Tallahassee, Florida. Originally, she thought she wanted to be a lawyer, but her interest and passion in the legal field dwindled. However, she took a liking to math and sciences and she decided to go into health care.

Dr. Robertson wanted to be able to have a major impact on patient care and found pharmacy was the perfect fit for her. After earning her associate degree from Tallahassee Community College (TCC), she was accepted into the College of Pharmacy at Florida A&M University (FAMU.) She recalls that biochemistry, organic chemistry, statistics and pharmacokinetics were tough classes, but she persevered with help of mentors, study groups, KitKats, Mountain Dew, as well as office hours with her professors.

After interning in Miami, she graduated with her doctoral degree in Pharmacy and completed a post-graduate residency at Florida at Bay Pines VA hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. Dr. Robertson returned to Tallahassee where she has worked to impact patient care and clinical programs at a major hospital for over 21 years.  

Strong mentorship has been a constant in Natalie’s educational and professional lives. She says, “Mentorship is very important.  It helps build relationships and provide aspiring students an opportunity to maximize their potential.”  As a young Black woman, Dr. Robertson did not see many Black women pharmacists represented in the field but found great support and encouragement from her high school teachers and college professors. Her high school science teacher, Mr. Brown, and math teacher, Ms. Jackson were influential in sparking her STEM interest by making science and math interesting and maintaining high expectations for their students. She says, “their love and passion for the subjects exuded, which further piqued my interest and encouraged me to do better.”

She also attributes the encouragement from Instructor Brown, her TCC science teacher, for encouraging her to pursue a career in pharmacy.  Seeing the integral role educators and a support community, Dr Robertson adds “I am strong advocate of mentoring”, and through these enriching relationships, she obtained her Master's in Healthcare Administration in 2002 from the University of Florida and her PharmD from Florida A&M University (FAMU) in 1997.

The Florida-Caribbean Louis Stokes Regional Center of Excellence recognizes Dr. Robertson and the community colleges, and HBCUs that are producing Pharmacy graduates creating change in our healthcare systems.