Pharmacy Podcast Network

On this episode of This Week in Pharmacy, we bring together three powerful voices shaping the future of pharmacy, independent practice, functional medicine, and healthcare transformation.

 

First, we welcome Kris Rhea, MBA, Contributing Editor with Dispense Times, a digital publication dedicated to supporting independent community pharmacy owners across the United States. Kris brings a business-focused perspective on pharmacy operations, growth strategy, workflow efficiency, data-driven decision-making, and market positioning. His work with Dispense Times helps independent pharmacists navigate today’s rapidly changing healthcare landscape, including PBM pressures, evolving patient expectations, regulatory challenges, and the need for sustainable business models that keep local pharmacies strong.

 

We also speak with James Maskell, founder of Evolution of Medicine, an organization built to inspire, equip, and unite functional and integrative medicine practitioners. Evolution of Medicine provides education, practice-building resources, and community for clinicians who are working to build thriving practices rooted in whole-person care. James brings a national perspective on the movement toward functional medicine, community-based care, prevention, and new models that empower practitioners to better serve patients beyond the limitations of conventional healthcare.

 

Our third guest is Marina Buksov, PharmD, a pharmacist, herbalist, educator, podcast host, and holistic health consultant. After earning her PharmD from St. John’s University and graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2013, Marina entered pharmacy eager to serve patients, but quickly recognized that traditional allopathic pharmacy did not fully align with her deeper calling to help people thrive through prevention, root-cause care, plant medicine, and sustainable wellness strategies. Her experience behind the pharmacy counter and as a patient herself inspired her to pursue health coaching, nutrition, functional medicine, and clinical herbalism. Today, Marina helps pharmacists and healthcare professionals explore natural-minded career paths and build meaningful work that bridges pharmacology, herbal therapeutics, and holistic care.

 

Together, this episode explores where pharmacy is headed: independent pharmacy survival, business model innovation, functional medicine, patient-centered care, pharmacist reinvention, and the growing demand for healthcare professionals who can connect science, prevention, and real-world practice.

 

Listen to This Week in Pharmacy on the Pharmacy Podcast Network.
Pharmacy’s future is being built by those willing to challenge the current model, support independent practice, and expand the role of pharmacists as trusted healthcare providers.

In this episode, Sheila Arquette, President & CEO of NASP, speaks with Jonathan L. Swichar, Duane Morris Pharmacy Litigation Group Chair, and Bradley A. Wasser, Duane Morris Pharmacy Litigation Group Partner. They discuss the 2026 Consolidated Appropriations Act and its landmark PBM reform provisions that impact pharmacy network access and transparency. These expert litigators go into detail about what specialty pharmacies should expect as federal agencies enforce the new law and what opportunities and challenges lie ahead for specialty pharmacies.

In this episode of The Executive Dose Podcast, host Stephen Beckman leads a timely discussion on how pharmaceutical manufacturers approach portfolio ideation, portfolio development, and strategic growth in today’s increasingly complex healthcare environment.

 

Stephen is joined by Joe Hendrickson, Head of Strategy and Corporate Development for Serovia, for a conversation focused on how manufacturers identify unmet market needs, evaluate product opportunities, prioritize development pathways, and make strategic decisions amid growing industry pressure.

 

The discussion explores how pharmaceutical companies move from early-stage ideation to portfolio evaluation, development, commercialization, and lifecycle planning. As manufacturers face rising pricing pressure, market access barriers, regulatory expectations, competitive intensity, supply chain constraints, and evolving stakeholder demands, disciplined portfolio strategy has become more important than ever.

 

Listeners will gain perspective on how manufacturers are navigating uncertainty, adapting their growth strategies, and building more resilient portfolio models designed to bring meaningful therapies and solutions to market.

Special Guest
Joe Hendrickson
Head of Strategy and Corporate Development Serovia

Today’s guest dropped an unbelievable amount of wisdom in the span of just one podcast episode. She and I both align on so many topics as you will discover in our conversation. We both believe that women have the power to intuit what is best for them and their bodies.

Women, especially midlife women, have been taught for far too long that their suffering is "just a part of aging." The system has also taught us that when we have symptoms, we should reach for a drug to fix it (and often holistic medicine is thought of as an alternative herb or supplement).

My guest asserts that when symptoms arrive for women in midlife and perimenopause, it is often a wake up call to how we are living our lives, particularly the accumulation of not so nourishing choices in the last couple of decades. Hormones shift, revealing what has already been happening. Women can then heed the call to pay attention to foundational living (how they are eating, sleeping, managing energy, stress, etc) and prevent further disease down the road.

The common approach to manage symptoms with herbs and/or HRT are only addressing the tip of the iceberg and are not going to get at the root cause of symptoms. Perimenopause and menopause does not have to be a negative life sentence to the rest of your life, rather it can be seen as an initiation and invitation to finally start prioritizing yourself.

Maria Gabriela is a certified Ayurveda Health Counselor, a doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.), a 200 hour certified yoga teacher, and founder of Intuitive Ayurveda. She helps people in perimenopause and menopause feel better in their bodies using Ayurveda, science-backed tools, and intuitive coaching — so they can celebrate this phase of life instead of dreading it.

The eastern and western perspectives of medicine each have something to offer us, and Maria Gabriela understands this dance. Her goal is to educate on Ayurvedic tools that can (and should) be individualized to each complex person.

She strives to help her clients tune into the messages their bodies are sending them. Ultimately, she believes every person is the expert on what is best for them, and can be empowered to hone in on which tools they need to support themselves in mind, body, and spirit.

Connect with Maria Gabriela via:
Email: maria@intuitiveayurveda.com
Website: Intuitive Ayurveda
IG: @intuitive_ayurveda

This is the Pharmacy Podcast Network's ASEMBIA 2026 rewind!

We're dedicated to bringing you inside coverage of the pharmacy nation's biggest events with on the street style interviews with keynote speakers, attendees, exhibitors, and recurring guests who make each year special. 

This is part six of our six part series!

We'd like to thank Finch Marketing for sponsoring this episode!

On this episode we interview:
Nicolle McClure - President, Finch Marketing
Seth Chaney - CEO, 609 Health
Natalie Ryan - Vice President of Specialty Pharmacy
Srulik Dvorsky - TailorMed
Michael Oleksiw and Abby Reynolds - Pleio
Fran Gregory - PharmD, Cardinal Health