Many people struggle to find a trusted resource to get the medications they desperately need. Dr. Deandra Bradley, PHA ’26, saw this firsthand when caring for her grandparents.
That healthcare gap, with all of the confusion and fear that goes with it, inspired her to start a journey that would take nearly two decades to complete.
In May, she crossed the stage at Mercer University College of Pharmacy and received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree. She is a wife, a mother of four plus a bonus son, a grandmother of a 21-month-old, and a caregiver to her grandparents. And she made the four-hour round trip drive from Columbus to Atlanta nearly every day.
“Every mile represented a commitment to my family and to the dream that I refuse to give up on,” Dr. Bradley said.
She began her pharmacy career in 2006 as a pharmacy technician at Walmart in Columbus. Over the years, she built a passion for patient care and community service that eventually convinced her she wanted more. That ambition was validated when Walmart named her National Pharmacy Technician of the Year, chosen from more than 2,500 peers nationwide.
“That accomplishment showed me it was possible,” she said. “I knew I wanted to expand my ability to impact patient care and ultimately become a pharmacist.”
Dr. Bradley earned her associate degree in pharmacy technology, completing the required coursework for admission to pharmacy school. When she connected with other pharmacy professionals who spoke highly of Mercer’s College of Professional Advancement post-baccalaureate program, she decided to enroll in it and later applied to the Pharm.D. program.
Even though there were programs closer to her home, Dr. Bradley chose Mercer.
“I felt that sense of support from day one,” she said. “I knew that all of my professors knew who I was. They knew my name. They knew everything about me and my will and my perseverance. They wanted to see me succeed.”
Pharmacy school is demanding under the best of circumstances. Dr. Bradley’s experience was anything but ordinary.
Her daughter, Eunice, who has complex medical needs, required frequent hospitalizations and specialist appointments, most of them at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Bradley managed Eunice’s care schedule, therapies and medical equipment while attending classes, completing rotations and continuing to work part time. She also remained a regular presence in her grandparents’ lives, managing their medications and accompanying them to doctor appointments every two weeks.
Rather than relocate her family to Atlanta, Dr. Bradley chose to stay in Columbus. Moving, she said, would have meant uprooting Eunice’s carefully built support system and disrupting the specialized care her daughter depended on.
The hardest stretch came during finals last year, when Eunice was admitted to the intensive care unit. Children on the same floor were dying. A hospital chaplain came to sit with Dr. Bradley. And still, she left the hospital to complete her presentations.
“I had made a commitment,” she said.
The faculty at Mercer met her there. Professors ensured she had remote access to lectures during hospitalizations and worked with her to navigate the academic calendar around her family’s needs.
“What I will remember most is not just her determination, but her spirit,” said Dr. Pamela Moye, clinical professor of pharmacy practice. “No matter the obstacle, Deandra showed up with a smile, a positive attitude and an unwavering commitment to becoming the pharmacist her patients deserve. Her journey reminds us that strength is not the absence of adversity; it is the courage to rise above it every day.”
Dr. Bradley graduated with a 3.0 GPA, which was the goal she had set for herself. Because of her hard work and admirable dedication, the city of Columbus honored her achievement by declaring May 16, 2026, “Deandra Bradley Day.”
She is now studying for her licensing exams and has accepted two staff pharmacist positions, including one at Walmart, where her pharmacy career began 20 years ago.
“My path didn’t look like everybody else’s, and I had to keep that in mind every day,” she said. “I just hope that my children learn that perseverance is possible, even when life isn’t easy. No dream is too big when you’re willing to work for it.”
