Julia Becker

2023 Distinguished Service Award Winner

Julia Becker is an Epic application analyst at Monument Health in Rapid City, South Dakota. She has worked for Monument Health since 2018 and brings 15 years of pharmacy experience in a diverse number of pharmacy settings to the Willow application team. She has led the Willow IT team through the adoption of Willow Ambulatory for the health system’s retail pharmacies and now works to configure Ambulatory build for the Compass Rose module supporting the health system’s specialty pharmacy. Prior to her current position, Becker held the roles of pharmacy supervisor, hazardous drug designated person, and quality consultant for USP <800> and USP <797>. She led the pharmacy team through all things compliance, writing policy and procedure and paving the way for successful Joint Commission surveys. She led the Monument Health system’s initiative toward USP <800> compliance and trained all hospital and clinic staff in USP <800> compliance and safety. She also led the IV room team and developed technician training programs for USP <797> compliance.

Becker received a BSEd. in industrial technology education from Black Hills State University and an MA in Career and Technology Education from Ball State University. She has been a certified Pharmacy Technician since 2008 and earned an AAS in pharmacy technician from Western Dakota Tech. Before her employment at Monument Health, Becker was the pharmacy technician program director at Western Dakota Tech for seven years.

Becker demonstrated the importance of advanced certifications by earning the Medication History Certificate, the Technician Product Verification Certificate, Compounding Sterile Product Technician Certificate, the Hazardous Drug Handling Certification, the Advanced Certified Pharmacy Technician title, and the Immunization Administration Certificate from the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board as well as the Pharmacy Technician Immunization Administration Certificate of completion from the National Pharmacy Technician Association. During COVID-19, she was one of the first technicians to become certified to administer vaccines and vaccinated the community during Monument Health’s vaccination clinics.

Becker is at the forefront of promoting technician education and advancement. Her main professional focus has been to contribute to advancing and elevating the profession of pharmacy on a national level. She has been a member of ASHP since 2008 and has served on the Pharmacy Technician Forum’s Education Steering Committee for three years. Throughout her time on the committee, she created and presented two webinars as work group lead. As vice chair and then chair, Becker guided the development of webinars and toolkits providing learning opportunities and equipping pharmacy technicians with tools for career advancement. She enjoys finding new ways to support the pharmacy team in her role in IT and is consistently looking for opportunities to show that a pharmacy technician’s role in healthcare has no limit.