Pharmacist filling his own prescription for success with pursuit of MBA at York College

When Layton Daniels '20 MBA was a kid, both of his parents worked in healthcare. “I kind of grew up with the idea of helping others,” he says. While he wanted to work in the medical field, his dad worked long hours as a physician and was away from home a lot—a life Layton didn’t want for himself. 

He decided to earn a doctorate degree in pharmacy and later got a job as a pharmacist at OSS Orthopaedic Hospital, York, Pennsylvania, where he loves his work. He’s able to spend time talking with patients while working closely with nurses to make sure they’re getting the best care. “You feel like you’re part of a team,” he says.

He works with physicians to help manage patient pain properly and works directly with patients to help them understand their medications. “I believe that advocating for my patients is an important part of my job,” he says.

After six years, though, he realized that if he wanted to move up in his company, he needed more business experience. That’s when he made the decision to go back to school and earn his MBA at York College of Pennsylvania.

Real-world experience in the classroom

Layton came to grad school with more questions than he had as an undergrad. “I feel like I have a lot more questions now because I have more experience in the real world, unlike my undergraduate years. Now that I can apply what I’m learning in the classroom at work, I want to be sure I have a thorough understanding of the material,” he says.

He wants to talk through exactly how things apply. And at York College, he’s been able to do that in person. “I like being about to interact with my professor in person during class or office hours,” he says. “I want to be able to ask questions; I feel like it’s more engaging for me. For me personally, I wouldn’t be as engaged with an online program.”

It’s not just with the professor. Layton says the discussions among his classmates are more interesting, too. “It expands everything more rather than just sending messages back and forth,” he says.

From the classroom to the hospital

Going back to school has been an adjustment for Layton. It’s meant seeing friends and family less and being the difficult one at work when it comes to scheduling meetings. But, it’s already started to pay off. “I’m able to use knowledge from my MBA to actually start working where I am now,” he says. “I can see things now that I didn’t understand before, and overall I feel like I’ve become a greater asset to the team at OSS.”

He also interviewed the CEO of OSS Health for a project and was able to learn more about how the company handles inventory and billings, which helped Layton understand how he can better do his job.

Layton’s building himself a future at OSS with this degree. Even though it’s been challenging, it’s been the good kind of challenge, especially now that he’s so close to his goal. “It feels good, kind of that downhill feeling,” he says. “You can see that finish line.”