Thursday Keynote Speaker
Melissa S. Medina, ED.D.
Dr. Melissa Medina earned her bachelor’s degree in experimental psychology and doctorate degree in educational psychology from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Dr. Medina joined the faculty at the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy in 2000. She is the Dean and Professor, the Phil C. and Ferne Ashby Endowed Dean’s Chair, a David Ross Boyd Professor, a Presidential Professor, and the former Associate Dean for Assessment and Evaluation. She directs the College’s co-curriculum program as well as the PGY1 and PGY 2 Residency Teaching Certificate Programs. Dr. Medina is also the Director of Preparing Future Faculty for the University of Oklahoma Graduate College and the Co-Director of the Scholarship and Teaching Excellence Program for all health sciences center faculty on campus.
Dr. Medina coordinates the College of Pharmacy’s Clinical Communication course, teaches in every year of the pharmacy program, and teaches in several colleges on campus. She also directs and coordinates teaching certificate programs for faculty, residents, and graduate and professional students nationally, across campus, and within the College of Pharmacy.
Dr. Medina’s research interests are focused on student learning outcomes related to active learning, critical thinking, problem solving, assessment strategies, and rubrics. She has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles and has delivered over 125 local, national, and international presentations on topics. In 2019, she was selected as the Associate Editor for the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education (AJPE).
Dr. Medina served as the 2013 Chair for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Outcomes Committee and the 2021-2023 Chair of the Curricular Outcomes and Entrustable Activities Committee, which are the national education program outcomes for pharmacy students that inform the pharmacy education accreditation standards.
Nationally, Dr. Medina has won 2 of the 4 highest honors in pharmacy education at AACP. She is the two time AACP Lyman Award for the Best AJPE Publication of the Year in 2025 and 2203 and she is the AACP Robert K. Chalmers National Distinguished Pharmacy Educator of the Year Award. She has received 8 other national pharmacy education awards including, the AACP Distinguished Teaching Scholar Award, the AACP Assessment SIG’s Collaborative Publication of the Year, and the AACP Social and Administrative Sciences Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Publication of the Year.
Dr. Medina has won 12 University of Oklahoma teaching awards including two OUHSC distinguished professorships, the OUHSC Student Government Association Advisor of the Year, the OUHSC Regent’s Award for Superior Teaching, and the OU College of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year Award.
