UF Pharmacy Alumna Awarded a Department of Veterans Affairs Coin

Director of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) Pharmacy Contact Center Molly Bruvold, PharmD ’10, has worked to a find a balance between her family life and career. The University of Findlay helped her achieve this balance between a meaningful life and a productive career.

Recently, Bruvold was awarded a Department of Veterans Affairs coin from the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie. “Secretary Robert Wilkie was doing a site visit at the Dayton VA campus to do a groundbreaking speech for the National VA History Center. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to travel to Dayton from my Indianapolis base due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions. We are also continuing to encourage decreased foot traffic to the medical centers which has led to increased attention on contact centers,” Bruvold said. Part of Bruvold’s operations are in Dayton along with a large nursing call center. During Secretary Wilkie’s visit, Bruvold and her nursing counterpart walked him through the contact centers and highlighted some of their success and what they were doing to be progressive in the area. Most importantly “we let him know we were there to take care of the veterans even if they couldn’t be seen face-to-face,” said Bruvold.

After Secretary Wilkie’s visit, he was impressed and granted Bruvold and her nursing counterpart a Department of Veterans Affairs coin. “Having the opportunity to meet Secretary Wilkie and share our program’s progress was an honor. To receive the coin was unexpected but very much an honor,” mentioned Bruvold.

Bruvold stated, “During my time at Findlay, I had the chance to experience different types of Pharmacy through my rotations.” After graduation, Bruvold was working in the community field of Pharmacy. After a few years working as a community Pharmacist, Bruvold began working for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 2012. During her time at the VA, Bruvold married her husband Erik, adopted her three sons from Bulgaria (Miro, Georgi and Filip) and had a biological daughter named Sofia.

“It has been one of my biggest struggles in life to balance my career and family life. During my VA tenure I have accepted promotions and stepped down when my family required more attention,” Bruvold said. Within the last year, she has stepped up to be the Director of the VISN Pharmacy Contact Center, where she helps to serve all of the VAs in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Bruvold works on a team to help coordinate all of the VA’s outpatient pharmacy care through phone calls, messaging platforms and is looking to incorporate video visits and chat modalities in the future. “There are many careers and fields that are personally and professionally satisfying, but at the end of the day, knowing that my mission is to care for the Veterans who have served our country, is very rewarding,” stated Bruvold.

During Bruvold’s time as a student in Findlay’s Pharmacy program, she was able to work with Associate Professor Sandra Earle, PharmD, closely on pharmacokinetic literature and coauthored a chapter in a pharmacokinetics book. Earle worked for the VA in her career as well, which helped to spark Bruvold’s interest in the VA during her time as a student. “Looking back on all this time she (Earle) really helped guide me on where I wanted to go,” Bruvold added.

“Since graduating from Findlay, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to grow as a person, keep in contact with my classmates and grow in my career,” mentioned Bruvold. Something that lead to her decision to complete her Pharmacy degree at the University of Findlay was the family-like atmosphere. “I was lucky enough to be in the first inaugural class of Pharmacy graduates at the University of Findlay,” Bruvold said.

“I would encourage anyone and everyone to remember there is so much out there and it does take going out of your comfort zone to find out what works for you. Career and family together are something that I struggled with. Being able to have a career as a mother really sets a good example for my kids and especially for my daughter,” she said. Bruvold wants students to know “giving yourself that chance, getting out of your comfort zone or getting out of what you thought was going to be the plan and being flexible has really paid dividends for me.”

For more information on Findlay’s College of Pharmacy please visit:

https://www.findlay.edu/pharmacy/