By Seth Humble, Digital Content Specialist 

Kentucky is a special kind of place. Roving through its rolling hills, blanketed in the wind-swept, world-famous bluegrass from which the state takes its nickname, people find themselves taken aback, perhaps even awestruck. Kentucky is a place of dusky beauty. It’s a state physically gowned and culturally capped in blue. From the roots of terra firma to the soaring musical top of the Foggy Mountain Boys, Kentucky is the kind of humble place that crafts a humble man.

“You can say that blue has always been a big part of my life,” says Matt Martin, PharmD, a PCCA clinical compounding pharmacist. “I went to Moorehead State for undergraduate work, then the University of Kentucky for my pharmacy education. So, blue and blue. And surprise, I’m a Dodgers fan — blue there, too. And now, I work for PCCA, which is of course, famously blue.

We go through the normal, beginning particulars of every get-to-know-you scenario over the phone. He works for PCCA remotely from his home state. The first thing Matt wants to tell me is about his family. 

“I have a lovely wife and we have four kids: three girls and one boy.  We’ve also got a 6-year-old pup named Tiny,” he says. There is a distinct kind of nostalgia that rings in Matt’s voice when he tells me about the family he grew up with. His father, an aluminum-parts production supervisor who served at the same company loyally for 40 years, encouraged Matt’s love for collecting baseball memorabilia — especially baseball cards. His mother is a deaf schoolteacher at the Kentucky School for the Deaf, but you would never know it by her incredible proficiency at reading lips. Matt talks about his young life with a breezy ease; the trademark of the Southern raconteur. 

When we talk about what Matt does for PCCA, his tone changes. It’s still calm, smooth and direct, but there is a dynamism that flows into his voice when he starts talking about pharmacy compounding guidelines and regulations.

“I talk with pharmacies, especially about regulation,” he says. “I help them understand where to find resources to best equip themselves to handle often-changing interpretation of the regulatory landscape. Legislation dictates how pharmacies are able to compound, what they are able to compound with; that legislation dictates how or if a pharmacy can help a patient. That can be very frustrating. It’s my job to help those pharmacies navigate those scenarios.” 

“Legislation is something you’re clearly passionate about,” I say.

“To me, that’s why ACT is so important and, honestly, encouraging because of how many new faces I see each year that want to serve as advocates for patients,” Matt says of PCCA’s annual legislative conference in Washington, D.C. “ACT lets them share their concerns with congressional offices and advocate for patients’ access to customized medicine. It’s important to recognize that our voice, the voice of compounders, is a big voice in regulation, but not the only voice. So conveying our message in person does make a difference.”

The phone goes quiet, but I can feel the wheels of Matt’s mind turning. 

“I don’t mean to go on, but something that I think is important is this: One word can have so much power to change the interpretation and the outcome for patient care,” Matt says. “So, no matter if it’s sterile or nonsterile compounding, or we’re dealing with USP guidelines it’s important to know that it takes care and focus to really navigate these documents. I want pharmacies to be able to help people, and in order to do that, I am striving to stay on top of this ever evolving regulatory system.” 

I ask him what he does to understand these finer points.

“Understanding the documents, going through them line by line carefully,” he responds. “And honestly, it’s people — talking with people during inspections. Those are tense, high-pressure situations. In those moments, you want to let those people know that they are not alone, that there is someone they can talk to, someone that can help them walk through these situations. Being a person who helps them is very special to me.” 

“So what can people do to prepare for those kinds of situations?” I ask.

“Pharmacies should practice for the inspection with assigned roles of who does what when the inspectors arrive. Knowing that and practicing that eases the tension if a real inspection occurs.” 

“Anything else?” I follow up.

He laughs; it is a slow, self-effacing sound. “Yeah. Call me. Let’s get prepared. Let’s talk about what you should consider about your facilities, personnel, procedures, and how you can be a voice for continued access to needed compounded medications.”

This is Matt Martin — an eagle scout and native son of the Bluegrass State, who loves fall camping in the Red River Gorge. A clinical compounding pharmacist who believes that sharing special experiences with those we love is essential to a meaningful life. He was PCCA’s 2018 Employee of the Year and is a compounding legislation and regulation hawk, always looking for every possible way to empower the pharmacies he speaks to on a daily basis. PCCA is proud to call him one of our own.