Profiles in Personalized Medicine: Tiffany Kofroth & Mindy Stephens, Live from the 2025 Tech Summit 

At the 2025 PCCA Technician Summit, two pharmacy technicians shared their journeys from opposite ends of the compounding spectrum. Tiffany Kofroth, CSPT, CPhT-Adv, works in sterile compounding and education at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Mindy Stephens, CPhT, has built her career in nonsterile compounding at Magnolia Pharmacy in North Houston. Their experiences may differ, but their passion for personalized care is the same. 

Two Beginnings, One Passion 

Both Tiffany and Mindy began their pharmacy careers in 1998. For Tiffany, it started at a Rite Aid in Pennsylvania while she was still in high school. What was supposed to be a step toward nursing quickly became a lifelong commitment to pharmacy. Her career has taken her through retail, long-term care and hospital settings before leading her to MD Anderson, where she now serves as both an educator and active compounder. 

Mindy got her start in retail pharmacy as well, and while her mother was a pharmacy technician, Mindy didn’t expect to follow in her footsteps. But after she joined Magnolia Pharmacy almost a decade later, owner Steve Hoffart, PharmD, asked her a simple question: Did she like to follow recipes? That question led her into compounding, and she’s been perfecting formulations for patients ever since. 

Changing Lives Through Compounding 

For both women, the reward is seeing how personalized medicine changes lives. Tiffany recalls watching children at MD Anderson ring the bell after completing treatment — a reminder of the very real stakes involved in sterile compounding. Mindy remembers helping compound for a little girl with anemia whose medication needs shifted from month to month. Today, that girl is thriving. 

Whether it’s easing pain for a hospice patient, supporting fertility treatments or creating pet medications that extend an animal’s life, both Tiffany and Mindy carry with them the knowledge that behind every prescription is a person whose quality of life depends on what they make. 

The Craft of Getting It Right 

In sterile compounding, Tiffany focuses on rigorous quality checks, including barcode scanning, gravimetric verification and electronic documentation. At Magnolia Pharmacy, Mindy’s team uses multiple levels of pharmacist oversight and regular sync-ups to share new knowledge. Both emphasize that education never stops, whether it's through USP updates, PCCA training or peer-to-peer collaboration. 

They’ve also seen the technician profession evolve dramatically since their early days. What was once a job that required little formal training is now a career with national certifications, specialized credentials and growing recognition. The pandemic underscored that shift, as many technicians stepped into expanded roles as essential healthcare providers. 

The Future of Pharmacy Technicians 

When asked what advice they’d share with future technicians, both point to shadowing as the best place to start. Seeing compounding up close reveals the creativity, precision and patient connection that make it so rewarding. 

“Technicians aren’t just support staff,” Tiffany said. “We’re the backbone of the pharmacy.” 

Mindy echoed the sentiment. “It’s incredibly rewarding to help people in your own way, every single day," she said. 

Different settings, different specialties, but a shared mission. For Tiffany Kofroth and Mindy Stephens, compounding is where science and compassion meet to create something truly personal.