A lifelong calling: Brandon’s path to pharmacy with purpose

Brandon Koolick, PharmD, knew what he wanted to do with his life when he was just 6 years old.

He was at that age when his younger brother, Blake, was born with biliary atresia. The rare condition blocks infants’ bile ducts — which are responsible for carrying bile from the liver to the small intestine — and can be life-threatening without treatment. 

At 2 weeks old, Blake became the youngest person in the world at the time to undergo a procedure to fix the condition. It was successful, and after he came home from the hospital, Brandon’s parents told him that Blake would need to take medicine every day to stay healthy. 

“I don’t think I grasped the gravity of everything until I was older,” said Brandon, who says the experience sparked his interest to eventually pursue pharmacy as a career. “I was just excited to have a younger brother, and I thought it was amazing that this medication was keeping him healthy.”

Brandon (left) and his brother, Blake (right), whose condition as an infant inspired Brandon to become a pharmacist.

Today, Brandon works in Phoenix as a pharmacist for Genoa Healthcare, a pharmacy that specializes in caring for people with behavioral health and other complex conditions. Brandon’s pharmacy, like most Genoa pharmacies, is located directly within the community mental health clinic where consumers receive their care. This unique setting enables team members to meet the people they serve where they are, so it’s easier for them to get — and stay on — their medications.

Seeing family members affected by mental health conditions and living with generalized anxiety disorder himself, Brandon says he was initially drawn to psychiatry pharmacy because it was close to the heart. 

“There’s this quote we hear all the time in psych pharmacy – that it’s a science, but also an art,” said Brandon. “What works for one isn’t necessarily going to work for another. I love that we get to fine tune and try things that are very individualized.”

After meeting friends and mentors who worked for Genoa and two rotations with the organization during pharmacy school, Brandon knew where he wanted to work after he graduated.

“If there's anything I can do to make somebody's day or life easier, I'm going to try and do that, and one of the ways I do that is by being a pharmacist,” said Brandon.

Brandon’s favorite part about working for Genoa is that he gets to put the organization’s mission into action.

“If someone goes to another pharmacy in the valley and can’t afford their co-pay, they might be turned away,” he says. “At Genoa, we find a way to make sure they leave with their medication so they can feel and get better. We have this philosophy of putting our consumers first, which we do every day.”

Brandon has worked as a pharmacist for Genoa since 2021. Together, he and his pharmacy team care for people living with behavioral health conditions in partnership with their clinic partner, COPA Health.

Brandon remembers an incident from years ago at COPA Health, the behavioral health clinic his pharmacy is located within. As he was leaving for the night, an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) nurse ran past him. Someone was experiencing an opioid overdose, and she asked if Brandon had naloxone, a medication that can reverse the effects of one.

Brandon and his pharmacy technician, Brianna, grabbed the medication and administered it, keeping the person alive until the paramedics arrived.

“Brianna didn’t leave – she was there the entire time,” said Brandon, who shared that the individual later said the experience was the push they needed to enter a rehabilitation center. “Everything we do is a team effort. I’m very lucky to work with the best group of pharmacy technicians and pharmacists.”