When Isabella (Izzy) and Amalia (Molly) Mancini were small children, their mother Ronni showed them what they wanted to be when they grew up. It was partly because of what she did, but also how she felt about it, and how family and community members looked up to her.
For nearly 30 years, Ronni has been a pharmacist. And while she started out in retail, her daughters always remember her working from their rural Saratoga County home in the field of geriatrics, consulting with physicians, physical therapists, nurses, patients and their families to optimize patients’ medication treatment. Work/life balance wasn’t an ideal no one achieved; it was what their mother had.
So in a scene that would have been unthinkable a generation ago, the two young women with proclivities for science are following in the professional footsteps of their mother.
“When I saw what she did – improve patient care through her knowledge of chemistry – I thought it was pretty cool,” said Molly (pictured above, right), a 26-year-old graduate of the ACPHS Class of ’21 who always had a penchant for chemistry.
“It’s a respected job, people see her as the person to go to,” said Izzy, 19, a ACPHS PharmD candidate in the Class of 2027, who received her first professional white coat on Sept. 29. “And as a kid, I never heard her complain. Everyone else complains about their job.”
The trio is relaxed and jovial with each other, as people with similar mannerisms and expressions can be, but with the added benefit of shared DNA and interests, as well as the “caring gene.” They discuss their work and their training with mutual respect and thoughtfulness. They tease each other in between.
Ronni has been a preceptor, collaborating in that role with in-house pharmacists, for more than 20 years, so has advised not only her daughters but also other pharmacists in training. She relishes the role, saying she learns from the students. Asked what it would be like to have their own mother as a preceptor, the daughters explained that would present a conflict of interest. “She’d give us all As,” Molly said. To which Izzy feigned suspicion: “Would she though?”
The men in their family chose other pursuits. Dad Adam, who stayed quietly in the background during a recent photo shoot on campus, is an engineer, “the math guy to go to in high school, when you’re crying at 3 a.m.,” Izzy said. Son and brother Adam III, 24, is a cardio echo sonographer.
The family also plays together, athletes and outdoor enthusiasts all. Izzy is on the ACPHS women’s soccer team and Molly plays in a competitive community league. The older sister said she’s looking forward to the day when the two can play on the same team.
Like Ronni, Molly is a consultant pharmacist. She also chooses to work part time at a Capital Region hospital, in part to give her maximum time for other pursuits. She likes the variety of responsibilities she gets on what some might see as a lonely night shift, and also the flexibility of the schedule. She works four nights, then has five off, works five nights, then has two weeks off.
Asked if they think about working together some day, the women laughed. They joke sometimes about opening the Mancini Pharmacy in their small hometown, where there is no drug store. But then they’re not sure that’s the type of career that would really suit any of them. And that gets Ronni to why she encouraged them to pursue pharmacy in the first place.
“It’s so diverse,” she said. “They’ll never be out of a job.”