Welcome to National Harbor, Maryland. For those of us from the United States, we cannot help but feel a stir of patriotism being so close to our nation’s capital and the history that surrounds us. For many years I lived at the top of the Chesapeake Bay in lovely Havre de Grace, Maryland, which missed being the nation’s capital by one vote in the First Congress. Annapolis, the state capital of Maryland and temporary U.S. capital from 1783-1784, is just forty miles from here. And there is a hidden treasure in the State House- the room in which George Washington voluntarily resigned his military commission. He decided to be neither a king nor a military leader but rather a citizen. One of my legislators stated, “This may be the most important decision for democracy in the United States.”
In your life, career, or institution, what are those important decisions which may profoundly affect your future?
Our schools and colleges are facing ongoing challenges- student recruitment, access to funds, and even new accreditation standards which will require renewed focus as we prepare pharmacists as full members of health care teams. As we celebrate AACP awards for distinguished research, community service and teaching, we find ourselves under siege with continued dialogue about the ‘pharmacy bubble’ and the number of pharmacy schools.
Many of us feel surprised that our impact and influence are not recognized more widely. After all, it is a privilege to educate the next generation of pharmacists and scholars. Our faculty and alumni are doing amazing work on campus, in their communities, and in the workplace.
How will we overcome negative perceptions and real challenges while pursuing our ambitious goals? We will succeed by “Capitalizing on Foundations in Citizenship.” Some of us are engaged as elected and appointed leaders in the profession or in our communities and states. Can examples of elected leadership empower others to invest their time and talents to advance not only their home institution but also the voice of academic pharmacy? The Council of Faculties has explored faculty citizenship this past year; what can be learned and shared to further engage and empower our faculty, including our preceptors? With high performing practitioners in health systems and health care, how can their influence be translated into legislative or regulatory impact? How can engagement and empowerment be aligned with personal and professional enrichment?
In the phrase “Capitalizing on Foundations in Citizenship,” each word was carefully selected. By capitalizing, we will be building long-term assets. As we capitalize, we gain by turning something into an advantage. As we prepare pharmacists and scholars for the future, we are leveraging all the stakeholders who invest in pharmacy education.
A foundation is something that supports a structure. It can be an idea or principle that provides support. I view our AACP foundation as the underpinning, the cornerstone, or roots which support our mission to lead and partner with our members in advancing pharmacy education, research, scholarship, practice and service to improve societal health.
I think of citizenship in the broadest manner. A citizen is a member of a community. We may be citizens of the United States, Canada, or another country, but we are also citizens of our schools, our profession and our organizations. A citizen belongs. A citizen is vested with privileges and duties. Here lies our call to action.
My colleague Dr. Anjan Nan shared a photo of the ceremony at which he took his oath of citizenship to become a United States citizen. He inspired me to attempt the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services self-test for naturalization. (I scored 24 out of 25 by missing the question on the Federalist papers.) You should try it too.
This relates to an excerpt from the report of the AACP Council of Faculties Task Force on Preparation of Pharmacy Faculty and Students to be Citizen Leaders and Pharmacy Advocates1. The key word is citizen. As members of a community, nation, or an area of commonality, citizens are civilians who profess allegiance. Pharmacists are actually naturalized citizens within the profession of pharmacy. Naturalization involves learning about founding documents and civics processes, successfully completing an examination, and taking an oath, just as student pharmacists complete pharmacy education and affirm the Oath of a Pharmacist prior to a licensure examination. Naturalized United States citizens often exhibit a profound appreciation for the freedoms and responsibilities that are part of earned citizenship. Pharmacists are citizens within the profession, and as citizens they are free to pursue their interests, but they have responsibilities.
Strategic Planning- Aspirations
AACP is no longer a small organization. We have grown in programs, staff, budget, and number of institutional members. There are increasing requests for member services and an urgent need to solidify our future through strategic planning.
Our most recent strategic plan was adopted in 2010. As chair of the strategic planning committee over the past year, I worked with the Board, councils, and professional staff to identify essential elements in our next strategic plan. President-elect Joseph DiPiro will chair the 2015-2016 committee and will present a plan for discussion and approval by the 2016 House of Delegates. We will seek your thoughts on visionary goals which will advance our shared aspirations.
Academic Affairs- Entrustable Professional Activities
The 2013 Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Outcomes are now included as Standards 1-4 in the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards 2016. The 2014-2015 Professional Affairs Committee has examined the concepts of readiness to practice and the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP)- endorsed pharmacists’ patient care process. In addition, the Association of American Medical Colleges has released a set of “entrustable professional activities” (EPAs) to guide medical education. The 13 EPAs describe those activities medical school graduates should be able to perform without direct supervision the first week of residency training.
The 2015-2016 Academic Affairs Committee, chaired by Stuart Haines, will identify the EPAs for pharmacy graduates as they transition from completion of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences into practice and post-graduate opportunities such as residencies. The Academic Affairs Committee will work toward consensus on the “what” graduates should be entrusted to perform.
Advocacy- Exemplars
Building on advocacy tools from previous committee work, the Advocacy Committee will consider how to empower us as citizens -- within our institutions, communities, and governments. At the AACP 2015 Interim Meeting, we heard John Daly characterize advocacy as persuasion- by answering ‘why now?’, offering a plan, and demonstrating the benefits. This skill set is necessary for student pharmacists, but also for our faculty and professional staff members. Too often Legislative Day has become the equivalent of ‘dropping off the kids at the mall’ without sufficient support and mentoring by faculty and practitioners.
The 2015-2016 Advocacy Committee, chaired by Daniel Robinson, will identify and recognize citizen exemplars among faculty, practicing pharmacists, and students and will identify the key characteristics and development opportunities to expand and empower our pool of pharmacy education advocates.
Professional Affairs- Preceptors
Our preceptors are one group of citizens that bears responsibility for a significant portion of the preparation of practice-ready graduates. Estimated to be at least 30,000 strong, most preceptors accept responsibility for precepting Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (and often Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences as well) with little or no direct compensation. With Cathy Worrall as chair, the 2015-2016 Professional Affairs Committee will study the current relationship among the schools/colleges of pharmacy, our volunteer preceptors, and the organizations that employ them. The focus will be defining what these practitioners need for continuing professional development, recognition, and support so that they can assume increasing responsibility to assure that pharmacy graduates are both practice- and team-ready. In addition the Committee will assess the unique demands of precepting in an interprofessional care environment.
Research and Graduate Affairs- Contemporary Graduate Education
The current Research and Graduate Affairs Committee (RGAC) embarked upon an in-depth assessment of contemporary graduate education in the pharmaceutical sciences. Under the leadership of Chair Natalie Eddington, this committee has made great progress but will require more than a single year for its comprehensive work. The 2015-2016 RGAC will complete the original charges and will advise AACP’s new chief science officer Joan Lakoski. They will collaborate in strategic planning for AACP and will develop goals for the research and graduate education agendas. They will also evaluate the results of the first two cohorts of the Academic Research Fellows Program and seek feedback for improvements.
Argus Commission- Board Processes and Governance Architecture
As former AACP presidents, members of the Argus Commission are distinctively positioned to help advance the architectural foundation of AACP during strategic planning. In order to empower a high performing organization, the AACP Board and Chief Executive Officer need to ensure that current leadership models are adequate to provide strategic governance. The 2015-2016 Argus Commission, chaired by Rod Carter, will investigate and recommend assessments for the Board and AACP CEO to improve performance; recommend improvements for Board development processes and programs; complete the analysis and recommend enhancements in our governance model to optimize opportunities for member/citizen engagement; ensure that an adequate succession plan for AACP executive leaders is in place and understood by all; and recommend an appropriate process for the CEO five-year review to be completed by June 2017.
Bylaws and Policy Development Committee (BPDC)- Policy Process
Traditionally the BPDC has prepared the work of the House of Delegates. This year Speaker-elect Evan Robinson, with help from Speaker Phil Hritcko, former speakers, and volunteer members, has begun to examine optimal communications for new and experienced delegates. Capitalizing on this foundation, the 2015-2016 BPDC, with Raylene Rospond as chair, will evaluate our policy development process and will investigate and make recommendations for an optimal policy development process which engages and empowers members. They will examine ways by which the House can consider new business in a timely manner, and will recommend improvements in the bylaws to support engaged and agile AACP governance.
Special Task Force on Diversifying Our Investment in Human Capital
The 2013-14 Argus Commission assessed the status of academic pharmacy with respect to diversity and inclusion in the broadest sense of these terms and in all elements of the academic mission. Two policy statements were forwarded for adoption by the House of Delegates and seven recommendations were made for a significantly expanded effort in support of our members’ goals in this area. In the words of the 2014-2015 Strategic Planning Committee, here we need “a game-changer.”
In order to address these recommendations and to further assess the successful practices of members and colleague organizations, the 2015-2017 Special Task Force on Diversifying Our Investment in Human Capital, chaired by Carla White, will identify barriers to accelerating diversification of the people who comprise our human capital in schools/colleges of pharmacy; identify game-changers in professional education, health care, or related areas in which substantial improvements have been achieved; and examine and recommend short-term and long-term strategies (e.g., changes to the application information collected, a national research agenda). The task force is asked to vet strategies through the AACP Councils for input, with consideration to existing diversity plans at member institutions, and through external stakeholder organizations.
SUMMARY
In my candidate statement, I had referred to the neighborhoods in AACP. I hope you too are finding those places in AACP where you meet and work with pharmacy education colleagues and partners who also share your interests in advancing pharmacy education. It was heartening to see that hundreds of you volunteered for committees and task forces for the coming year. You are truly citizens of this organization. And while the outlined committee work is ambitious, it capitalizes on previous AACP efforts. I challenge all of us to engage beyond our families and work. Margaret Mead’s quote resonates. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Higher education is truly a higher calling. Through teaching, service, scholarship, and practice, we are called to serve and also to relate to other citizens of our society- young people, seniors, officials, people from other countries and cultures, and everyone who relies on pharmacy services. As citizen-educators, we need to align our aspirations with our inspirations- what ideas we breathe in, what role models we seek, and what vision we create. Thank you for your commitment to this calling.
REFERENCES
- 1.Ross LA, Janke KK, Boyle CJ, Gianutsos G, Lindsey CC, Moczygemba LR, Whalen K. Preparation of Faculty Members and Students to Be Citizen Leaders and Pharmacy Advocates. Am J Pharm Educ. 2013;77(10) doi: 10.5688/ajpe7710220. Article 220. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]