Kaitlin A. Pruskowski, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, FCCM, is a board-certified clinical pharmacist at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research’s U.S. Army Burn Center. Since childhood, Dr. Pruskowski had dreamed of becoming a health care professional, and wanted to begin her career as soon as possible. A gifted student with a special aptitude for math, science and chemistry, she found her niche after taking a biostatistics course, and began focusing her studies on pharmaceutical research and pharmacy studies.
Throughout her undergraduate studies, Dr. Pruskowski was a pharmacy intern with CVS, and she graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in pharmaceutical and health care studies. She remained at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy for her doctoral studies and was awarded a Doctor of Pharmacy in 2014. Dr. Pruskowski was accepted into highly selective professional internships and residency programs, spending the 2014-2015 academic year as a pharmacy practice resident at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and the following year as a critical care pharmacy resident at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Dr. Pruskowski began working with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research as a clinical pharmacist at the U.S. Army Burn Center in 2016. Driven, focused and compassionate, she is known by her colleagues both as an approachable and warm presence and a precise and creative clinician. In support of her position, she has completed dozens of hours of additional training. She is a board-certified critical care pharmacist and pharmacotherapy specialist, and in 2022 became a fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine. In addition to her many medical and continuing education credentials, Dr. Pruskowski is emphatic about the role that mental health and community connection can have in the healing process, and she was a certified therapy dog handler with Therapy Animals of San Antonio.
Dr. Pruskowski retains her early passion for research and clinical investigation, and she has contributed extensively to professional journals and conferences. Since 2017, she has designed and led both monthly and quarterly in-service training presentations on pharmacology in acute and critical burn patients for medical residents at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research. In 2018, Dr. Pruskowski was made a certified reviewer for the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and in 2020, she received an award from the American Burn Association for submitting one of the top five abstracts of the year. For much of her career, she has been a frequent volunteer and organizer of charity teams and events, serving as captain of numerous American Heart Association Heart Walk teams and Support the Troops campaigns.
She credits her success to her passion for the job and her ability to set boundaries and find a healthy work-life balance. Dr. Pruskowski hopes to remain in her current role for years to come, citing the bright and dynamic team and her continued love for the specific challenges of both pharmacology and burn care. Within five years, she hopes to be able to start mentoring pharmacy students and newly-licensed pharmacists, passing on her skills and leadership experience to the next generation of clinicians and researchers. As an emerging voice in acute care pharmacy, Dr. Pruskowski is affiliated with the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, the American Society of Health Systems Pharmacists and the Society for Critical Care Medicine.
