Daniel Riche
OXFORD, Miss. – Daniel M. Riche, an associate professor of pharmacy practice in the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, has been honored with Mississippi Business Journal’s 2016 Health Care Heroes award, which recognizes contributions to health and well-being.
Riche was chosen as one of 33 winners from around the state after a patient of the UM Medical Center Cardiometabolic Clinic, where Riche is coordinator, nominated him for the award. Riche does not know the patient’s identity.
“It’s nice to be noticed for what you do in health care, and especially since this is from the Mississippi Business Journal, which isn’t a pharmacy-only area,” he said. “It’s a very intriguing recognition.
“Awardees range from M.D.s to the insurance commissioner of Mississippi. This enables us get pharmacy’s name out there, outside of our discipline.”
Honey East, an endocrinology physician and a colleague of Riche’s, submitted a letter of recommendation in support of his nomination.
“Dr. Riche has always provided leadership in his representation of the profession of pharmacy,” East said. “He is highly respected by several health care disciplines, from both patient management and education fields who rely upon his contributions in their daily clinical activities.
“To this day, when I need someone to discuss cases in my private endocrinology practice, I still call Dr. Riche for advice.”
Besides this recognition, Riche became certified as a lipid specialist earlier this fall. He is one of only 53 pharmacists nationwide who are certified in the specialty.
The qualifications needed to take the certification test are stringent and extensive, yet Riche had qualified for some time before becoming certified.
“I practice in ambulatory care and cardiometabolics, and we refer to ourselves as experts in a field,” Riche said. “Yet in order to be an expert, you have to point to something that differentiates you, and one of those things is certification. Before I could actually say that I’m an expert, I wanted to be lipid specialist.”
Riche is also an associate professor of medicine at UMMC and research associate professor in both the university’s National Center for Natural Products Research and the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.