Katherine J. Hitchens

From watching her father enter medical school with three small children, with the aid of her educator mother, Katherine J. Hitchens, PharmD gravitated toward medicine, ultimately pursuing a career in pharmacy. She went on to matriculate at Purdue University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 1977, Master of Science of Business Administration in 1982 and a Doctor of Pharmacy in 1998. She is a board-certified geriatric pharmacist by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties, as well as certified in medication therapy management, immunization and basic life support. Dr. Hitchens also holds certification in core and advanced curriculum from the American Medical Writers Association.

Licensed as a registered pharmacist in 1977, Dr. Hitchens began her career as a retail pharmacist for Walgreens. Then, with a strong interest in medical communications, she wrote and published articles in pharmacy trade journals–including Drug Topics, Hospital Pharmacist Report and American Druggist. She has had 17 cover stories in trade journals and seven articles approved for pharmacist continuing education as well as numerous other published articles. In 1994, she founded her own company, Write Rx Medical Communications and Consulting, in 1994. In this role, she has written and edited manuscripts for pharmaceutical companies, clinicians, and publishing firms throughout the United States. The Natural Medicine Comprehensive Database, of which she was an author, was reviewed by the Journal of the American Medical Association June 14, 2000 as superb.

Dr. Hitchens is an active pharmacy consultant for nursing homes, assisted living facilities and long-term care facilities, evaluating drug use and approving prescriptions for the patients in those facilities. Her ultimate goal is to improve medication management, particularly in the geriatric population.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Hitchens has been an educator. She served as an assistant adjunct professor for self-care at the Butler College of Pharmacy between 2005 and 2006 and for a graduate course in pharmacology for applied nursing at the University of Indianapolis in 2006. She was an assistant adjunct professor for respiratory therapy pharmacology for Clarian Health Partners, Inc. in 2007. 

From 2007 to 2009, she was an outpatient staff pharmacist at the Richard Roudebush Medical Center and, from 2009 to 2016, a consultant pharmacist for Pharmakon LTC Pharmacy. From 2017 to 2021, she served as the Indiana Regional Clinical Pharmacist for Wexford Health Sources. She is currently a consultant in assisted living.

To remain abreast of her industry, Dr. Hitchens maintains memberships with the Indiana Pharmacists Association, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and is most involved in the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. Upon reflection, she attributes her success to her love of the sciences, specifically chemistry, and her desire to help other people.