Her Story
About Lucy
Lucy Mikhaylyants is a pharmacist based in Oxnard, California, with approximately 19 years of professional experience. She began her education at Valley College in 1991, transferred to UCLA, and earned her doctorate from USC Pharmacy School in 2000. After immigrating from Russia, she pursued a career in retail pharmacy to provide community consultation services, working at Rite Aid, Walmart Pharmacy for seven years, and CVS before moving to an independent pharmacy setting where she now oversees operations and organizes community outreach events.
Lucy holds certifications as an immunizer and in CPR. She is a member of the American Pharmacist Association. Her practice emphasizes patient safety and advocacy, drawing strength from family role models including her father, an ophthalmologist, and her grandmother, an OBGYN, both from Russia. She values integrity in her work, staying current through medical journals and conferences, and finds the field rewarding due to its opportunities for work-life balance and ongoing technological advances.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lucy
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think I had good role models, like my father. He was a medical doctor himself, and he was an ophthalmologist in Russia. My grandma was a OBGYN doctor, and my strength, I think, came from my family, and they supported me, and also I never really was fed by a hard day. Sometimes I just, you know, rest and start over. And I think, yeah, it's just everyone around me who also always encouraged me, like my family. And just my own character.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say it's a very rewarding path. Definitely. You know, demanding at times, and challenging. It allows for, like, also work-life balance, that where you know, you do have, like, a set schedule, and for a woman, if she's gonna raise a family. And I think it's a great field. It's definitely going to go through some expansion. So I would really recommend this as a profession.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Well, it's really a vast, like, changing field with all the AI now coming into play. There's a lot of apps that can really improve pharmacy workflow, and also kind of assistations, like requesting refills, like, letting them know when something is ready, so I think having, like, a good communication within the pharmacy, between, like, the pharmacy and the patients, the AI is really providing. As far as, like, where the pharmacy's going, there's also a lot of changes, and I think there's a lot of, like, lifestyle modifications that there's, like, devices that people can kind of measure their progress or their deficiencies. So there's been, like, a lot of technological advances within the pharmacy and, like, in the medical world, so yeah, it's truly, like, an exciting time to be in a pharmacy.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
It's important for me to keep the integrity of my work and just always look out for the patient's, you know, safety, and ultimately I am patient's advocate. I never want to, you know, like, in the give like in a medical school too you have to say like do no harm at the very least. Always very cautious and careful, and just always trying to provide the best medical care that I've been trained for, and just, you know, also stay connected to each patient as much as I can.
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