Class of 2026: Pharm.D. graduate and runner Angela Gates knows her courses

By Konrad Solberg

Angela Gates has reached a new finish line, but many more await.

In Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Pharmacy, Gates graduated this spring with her Pharm.D. - balancing her final weeks of clinical rotations with training for a half-marathon. It's a fitting pace for a student who has spent the last seven years at VCU challenging herself, both in advocating for Richmond's Spanish-speaking community and in running nearly 10 races.

As a first-generation college graduate, Gates' journey into healthcare was inspired by the persistence of her parents. Both worked for decades in the field.

"My dad had a certificate in respiratory therapy, and my mother was an orthopedic nurse in Panama," Gates said. "So they brought that into our lives, and I watched them do it for years."

She originally considered pediatrics, but her aunt worked as a pharmacy technician and steered her toward the specialty, which fit her love of math and science.

"I was a big science and math dork in high school," Gates laughed. "That's why I picked the medical field, because I knew I wanted to deal with the science of it."

From Winchester in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, Gates came to VCU as an undergraduate and earned her degree in professional science through the College of Humanities and Sciences. In 2021, she also participated in the Summer Academic Enrichment Program, which offers insight into graduate studies in pharmacy and other health disciplines.

And her love of science has been instilled with a true mission through volunteering with CrossOver Healthcare Ministry in Richmond. As a first-generation Hispanic American, Gates realized how valuable her Spanish skills were as she shadowed providers and interacted with patients.

"Because I knew Spanish, I ended up helping them and translating," she said. "The patients were so happy to have someone who talked and looked like them. That experience really made an impact on me, so that's where I'm trying to go."

Gates said the drive she has brought to her efforts - from her two degrees at VCU to her miles of racing - has forged a path that she appreciates with graduation at hand.

"All of the opportunities I took while in undergrad and graduate school are the reason I'm here," she said. "In the moment, those things didn't feel very big or important, but everybody who interviewed me for residency said they were really impressed with how I was willing to put myself out there."

Gates matched for a pharmacy residency at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System, where she will focus on ambulatory care and have deep interaction with patients.

"I hope to become a pharmacist and work in a clinic where I can help those who may not have access to care - uninsured people, veterans and Medicaid patients," she said. "I want to be a resource for them to get the care they need."

Other big dreams await, too: completing the World Marathon Majors and racing around the house.

"I hope to have a family," Gates said, "and still be finishing marathons in my 80s."