Dr. Yeung Joins Vaccination Effort

Dr. Denise Yeung Joins Toruo CARES Vaccination Effort

December 22, 2021
Dr. Yeung Joins Touro CARES
Dr. Denise Yeung (left) with Toruo CARES volunteers

When Dr. Denise Yeung came to Touro University California as a student, she couldn’t have known she’d graduate from pharmacy school in the middle of a global pandemic – which continues still.

However, with her PharmD/MPH dual degree, it turns out she is the perfect ally to help the Touro CARES program continue its vaccination effort throughout Solano County.

Dr. Yeung started initially as a volunteer with the program but was eventually hired when some grant funding became available and now, as a Pharmacist Project Manager, she’s helping bring Touro’s vaccination effort to underserved neighborhoods in Vallejo and throughout the area.

“Touro’s nice that way in that they really care about helping the community,” Dr. Yeung said. “It’s really the perfect marriage of my two disciplines.”

Dr. Yeung probably wasn’t anticipating leaning so heavily on her public health background so quickly, but its fortunate she was able to study that along with pharmacy in a dual degree format. As such, she was able to jump right in and start helping with the vaccination effort.

“I love direct patient care and this (CARES) provides so many opportunities to interact with patients, so I feel very fulfilled,” Dr. Yeung said.

That spirit of helping the community and giving of oneself is never far from her. Though just a recent graduate herself, she takes heart in seeing many of Touro’s current students working as volunteers at CARES events.

“It’s so inspiring to me that so many of them (students) dedicate so much of their time volunteering at these clinics while balancing their studies,” she said.

With the discovery of a new COVID variant, and with CARES recently starting to vaccinate children from ages 5 and up, the CARES staff and volunteers should stay plenty busy in the foreseeable future.