Adaptability,Agency, and Association to Influence Change: The Report of the 2020-21 AACP Argus Commission

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2020-21 AACP Argus Commission was charged to 1) review the 2019-2020 standing committee reports; 2) describe the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare delivery with an emphasis on health equity and social justice, 3) identify strategies to work with other health professions associations to advance interprofessional education and practice, and 4) offer recommendations for activities for the Center to Accelerate Pharmacy Practice Transformation and Academic Innovation (CAPT). Two work groups divided charges 2 and 3 and provided assessments of how health care and education might change due to all we have experienced over the 12-plus months of the pandemic. A review of plans for the first year of the CAPT activities and recommendations for additional activities are included in report. The Commission has proposed two new policy statements on digital health, five recommendations for AACP and five suggestions for colleges and schools of pharmacy. The Argus Commission affirms academic pharmacy’s adaptability, agency, and association to influence changes in healthcare delivery and interprofessional education and practice.     

The Report of the 2020-2021 Professional Affairs Standing Committee: Pharmacists’ Unique Role and Integration in Healthcare Settings

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2020-21 Professional Affairs Committee was charged to (1) Read all six reports from the 2019-20 AACP standing committees to identify elements of these reports that are relevant to the committee’s work this year; (2) Identify opportunities and models of integration of pharmacist care services in physician and other health provider practices beyond primary care; (3) Differentiate and make the case for the integration of pharmacist care services from that of other mid-level providers; and (4) From the work on the aforementioned charges, identify salient activities for the Center To Accelerate Pharmacy Practice Transformation and Academic Innovation (CTAP) for consideration by the AACP Strategic Planning Committee and AACP staff. This report provides information on the committee’s process to address the committee charges, describes the rationale for and the results from a call to colleges and schools of pharmacy to provide information on their integrating pharmacist care services in physician and other health provider practices beyond primary care practice, and discusses how pharmacist-provided patient care services differ from those provided by other healthcare providers. The committee offers a revision to a current association policy statement, a proposed policy statement as well as recommendations to CTAP and AACP and suggestions to colleges and schools of pharmacy pertaining to the committee charges.     

Report of the 2020-2021 Strategic Engagement Standing Committee

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), strategic engagement is critical to the success of colleges and schools of pharmacy in expanding pharmacy and public health practice, meeting programmatic needs, and fulfilling institutional missions. The 2020-2021 Strategic Engagement Standing Committee was charged with identifying effective strategies to leverage the temporary expansion of pharmacist practice capabilities granted during the COVID-19 pandemic for sustained practice. The group was also tasked with looking at ways to partner with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), our medicine counterparts to develop a plan for collaborating with them to advance interprofessional practice. In this unique year, all standing committees were charged with reading all the reports last year to put President Lin’s charges into perspective with the hopes of carrying over the overall theme and work of the previous years committee. Overall, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been several expansions on the scope of practice for pharmacists and vary by state. We hope to draw out some of those expansions to see how we can build upon efforts to make those permanent.     

Advancing Pharmacy Education and Workforce Development Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Report of the 2020-2021 AACP Academic Affairs Committee

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2020-2021 Academic Affairs Committee was charged to (1) Read all six reports from the 2019-20 AACP standing committees to identify elements of these reports that are relevant to your committee’s work this year; (2) Determine what changes made in colleges and schools of pharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic should be continued to advance pharmacy education; (3) Develop a realistic model for colleges and schools of pharmacy to share resources to meet the curricular needs of member schools; (4) Create strategies by which colleges and schools of pharmacy can meet current and future workforce development needs particularly in light of the changes in healthcare delivery as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; (5) Identify salient activities for the Center To Accelerate Pharmacy Practice Transformation and Academic Innovation (CTAP) for consideration by the AACP Strategic Planning Committee and AACP staff. This report provides an overview of changes made in schools and colleges of pharmacy implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that may be continued to advance pharmacy education; a realistic model for colleges and schools of pharmacy to share resources to meet the curricular needs of member schools; and strategies by which schools and colleges of pharmacy can meet current and future workforce development needs, particularly in light of the changes in healthcare delivery as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee is proposing one policy statement for consideration by the 2021 AACP House of Delegates, four suggestions for consideration by schools and colleges of pharmacy (including two endorsements for suggestions from the 2020-21 Argus Commission), and one recommendation for consideration by AACP for CTAP to implement and oversee.     

A critical appraisal of and recommendations for faculty development

The 2009-2010 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Council of Faculties Faculty Affairs Committee reviewed published literature assessing the scope and outcomes of faculty development for tenure and promotion. Relevant articles were identified via a PubMed search, review of pharmacy education journals, and identification of position papers from major healthcare professions academic organizations. While programs intended to enhance faculty development were described by some healthcare professions, relatively little specific to pharmacy has been published and none of the healthcare professions have adequately evaluated the impact of various faculty-development programs on associated outcomes.The paucity of published information strongly suggests a lack of outcomes-oriented faculty-development programs in colleges and schools of pharmacy. Substantial steps are required toward the development and scholarly evaluation of faculty-development programs. As these programs are developed and assessed, evaluations must encompass all faculty subgroups, including tenure- and nontenure track faculty members, volunteer faculty members, women, and underrepresented minorities. This paper proposes AACP, college and school, and department-level recommendations intended to ensure faculty success in achieving tenure and promotion.     

Engaging External Senior Faculty Members as Faculty Mentors

A small nonprofit private college with limited resources and a high proportion of junior faculty developed a nontraditional external faculty mentor program in the summer of 2011 in response to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) faculty survey data regarding the professional development needs of pharmacy faculty members. Experienced faculty members with national reputations from other colleges and schools of pharmacy were hired as consultants to serve as mentors for assigned faculty members. Program goals were to provide directed, individual mentorship for pharmacy practice and basic science faculty members, expand peer review of faculty teaching prowess, and enhance monthly faculty development programming. The latter was based upon the specific needs assessment of the faculty. Program outcomes reported will include faculty satisfaction (AACP faculty survey data) changes over time, achievement of board certification for clinical faculty members and other credentialing, and other benchmarks, eg, publications, grant funding, service engagement (site development, professional organizations), after the implementation of the nontraditional faculty-mentoring program.     

Pharmacy Faculty Workplace Issues: Findings From the 2009-2010 COD-COF Joint Task Force on Faculty Workforce

Many factors contribute to the vitality of an individual faculty member, a department, and an entire academic organization. Some of the relationships among these factors are well understood, but many questions remain unanswered. The Joint Task Force on Faculty Workforce examined the literature on faculty workforce issues, including the work of previous task forces charged by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). We identified and focused on 4 unique but interrelated concepts: organizational culture/climate, role of the department chair, faculty recruitment and retention, and mentoring. Among all 4 resides the need to consider issues of intergenerational, intercultural, and gender dynamics. This paper reports the findings of the task force and proffers specific recommendations to AACP and to colleges and schools of pharmacy.     

Impact of a faculty orientation and development committee

This paper describes the faculty enrichment activities and outcomes of a faculty orientation and development committee at a college of pharmacy. The committee used a continuous quality improvement (CQI) framework that included needs assessment, planning and implementation of programs and workshops, assessment of activities, and evaluation of feedback to improve future programming. Some of the programs established by the committee include a 3-month orientation process for new hires and development workshops on a broad range of topics including scholarship (eg, research methods), teaching (eg, test-item writing), and general development (mentorship). Evidence of the committee's success is reflected by high levels of faculty attendance at workshops, positive feedback on workshop evaluations, and overall high levels of satisfaction with activities. The committee has served as a role model for improving faculty orientation and retention.     

A Pathway to Professional Identity Formation: Report of the 2020-2021 AACP Student Affairs Standing Committee

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Professional identity formation (PIF) involves internalizing and demonstrating the behavioral norms, standards, and values of a professional community, such that one comes to “think, act and feel” like a member of that community. Professional identity influences how a professional perceives, explains, presents and conducts themselves. This report of the 2020-2021 AACP Student Affairs Standing Committee (SAC) describes the benefits of a strong professional identity, including its importance in advancing practice transformation. Responding to a recommendation from the 2019-2020 SAC, this report presents an illustrative and interpretative schema as an initial step towards describing a pharmacist’s identity. However, the profession must further elucidate a universal and distinctive pharmacist identity, in order to better support pharmacists and learners in explaining and presenting the pharmacist’s scope of practice and opportunities for practice change. Additionally, the report outlines recommendations for integrating intentional professional identity formation within professional curricula at colleges and schools of pharmacy. Although there is no standardized, single way to facilitate PIF in students, the report explores possibilities for meeting the student support and faculty development needs of an emerging new emphasis on PIF within the Academy.     

A Checklist for the Development of Faculty Mentorship Programs

Mentoring of junior faculty members continues to be a widespread need in academic pharmacy in both new programs and established schools. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Joint Council Task Force on Mentoring was charged with gathering information from member colleges and schools and from the literature to determine best practices that could be shared with the academy. The task force summarized their findings regarding the needs and responsibilities for mentors and protégés at all faculty levels; what mentoring pieces are in existence, which need improvement, and which need to be created; and how effective mentoring is defined and could be measured. Based on these findings, the task force developed several recommendations as well as the PAIRS Faculty Mentorship Checklist. Academic institutions can benefit from the checklist whether they are planning to implement a faculty mentorship program or are interested in modifying existing programs.     

Curriculum recommendations of the AACP-PSSC task force on caring for the underserved

A task force was convened by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) and the Pharmaceutical Services Support Center (PSSC) and charged with the development of a curriculum framework to guide pharmacy programs in educating students on caring for the underserved. Utilizing a literature-based model, the task force constructed a framework that delineated evidence-based practice, clinical prevention and health promotion, health systems and policy, and community aspects of practice. Specific learning outcomes tailored to underserved populations were crafted and linked to resources readily available to the academy.     

Advancing patient care through innovative practice: the Clinical Partners Program.

PURPOSE: The development, implementation, and outcomes assessment of an innovative pharmacist-managed ambulatory care and community pharmacy practice clinic are described. SUMMARY: The Clinical Partners Program at The Ohio State University (OSU) provides an active learning environment for students and residents, offers a patient-focused practice model based on pharmaceutical care principles, and serves as an arena for applied research in pharmacy practice. The program offers multiple services, including anticoagulation management, diabetes self-management, cholesterol management, hepatitis C education, herbal product and dietary supplement consultations, medication management, smoking cessation, and wellness. The practice is currently staffed by two faculty members from the college of pharmacy, with a 0.8 full-time-equivalent (FTE) pharmacist and a 0.65 FTE community pharmacy resident. It has served as a training site for 17 pharmacy residents, 28 bachelor of science (B.S.) in pharmacy students, 30 post-B.S. doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) students, and 132 entry-level Pharm.D. students at various levels of training. The most successful methods of reimbursement for programs have been contracted services with OSU Managed Health Care Systems, Inc., which serves OSU faculty and staff and fee-for-service billing, charged directly to non-OSU patients. Numerous studies have shown that Clinical Partners has consistently demonstrated improved therapeutic outcomes over those achieved in traditional practice. Faculty are exploring outreach services, including the development of advanced practice community sites for the college, establishing patient care services within physician offices, and providing disease management services for self-insured employers. CONCLUSION: The Clinical Partners Program has improved patient care and provided education and training opportunities for pharmacy students and residents.     

A comprehensive approach to faculty development

The purpose of this report was to describe the development, implementation, and outcomes from 3 complementary programs to facilitate the development of faculty members. The Faculty Development Committee (FDC) at the University of Tennessee developed 3 new complementary programs: the Individual Faculty Development Program to encourage faculty members to assess and identify their own specific developmental needs; the Seed Research Grant Program to fund scholarly activities by faculty; and the Technology Support Program to foster financial support of technology upgrades crucial for meeting the research, education, and service needs of faculty members. Eighteen faculty members participated in the Individual Faculty Development Program during the first 2 academic years and all provided positive feedback about their experiences. The Seed Research Grant Program funded 6 projects during its inaugural year. Limited outcome data from these 2 programs are extremely favorable relative to grant submissions and publications, and enhanced educational offerings and evaluations. The Technology Support Fund was initiated in the 2005-2006 academic year. The 3 faculty development programs initiated are offered as examples whereby faculty members are given a high degree of self-determination relative to identifying programs that will effectively contribute to their growth as academicians. Other colleges of pharmacy are encouraged to consider similar initiatives to foster individual faculty development at this critical period of growth within academic pharmacy.     

Advancing Pharmacist Scholarship and Research Within Academic Pharmacy

An appropriate balance between teaching, scholarship, and service is important for a faculty member to have a satisfying and successful career. The relative emphasis on each area normally changes during the course of a career. Although some level of scholarly output is an ongoing and fundamental expectation of all faculty members, this activity is too often given low priority, particularly among faculty members in practice areas who may have a minimal background in research and large demands on their time for teaching and clinical service. Addressing this issue requires establishing a shared commitment between administrators and faculty members, as well as identifying or developing education programs that will ensure research competence for practice faculty members. This paper provides insights into the role that scholarship and research should have for all pharmacy faculty members and provides suggestions for how to better advance this critical component within academic pharmacy.     

Changes in pharmacy practice faculty 1995-2001: implications for junior faculty development

OBJECTIVE: To compare changes in United States pharmacy practice faculty demographics from 1995-2001 and to discuss the implications for junior faculty development. METHODS: Demographic data were extracted from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy institutional research system for academic years 1995-1996 and 2000-2001. RESULTS: In 2000-2001, pharmacy practice was the largest faculty discipline, 3.8 times larger than the next three disciplines. Junior pharmacy practice faculty occupied 65% of all junior full-time pharmacy faculty positions. Tenure track assistant professors decreased 4% from 283 to 271, and nontenure track assistant professors increased 58% from 427 to 677 (chi2 = 20.0, p<0.05). In 2000-2001, 72% of all pharmacy practice assistant professors were nontenure track, up from 59% in 1995-1996. Women assistant professors in pharmacy practice outnumbered men by 2:1. Challenges faced by new faculty include balancing teaching, practice, and research demands; selecting a nontenure or tenure track and understanding its expectations; limiting teaching preparation time; developing productive writing habits; setting performance goals; managing time; and handling the mental and physical stress of academic life. Senior faculty must actively help new members appreciate the many positive aspects of academic life by sharing their strategies and success stories. CONCLUSION: Schools and colleges of pharmacy relied heavily on increasing the number of nontenure track junior pharmacy practice faculty to meet increased clinical education demands.     

Evaluation of a Fourth-Year Student Pharmacist Research Process at a Community Teaching Health System

Objective. To evaluate a process developed to support research by fourth-year student pharmacists enrolled in an advanced pharmacy practice experience at a health system affiliated with a school of pharmacy.Methods. In 2017, clinical, non-tenure track faculty transitioned from facilitating a fourth-year research elective to implementing a new student research process that matches students to research preceptors at the beginning of the academic year and provides training and resources to them throughout the year. This pre-post study evaluated student pharmacist research participation, dissemination, and placement into a residency or job position at the time of graduation, and then compared data for the three years before the new process was implemented to data for the three years after implementation.Results. Thirty-three fourth-year students assigned to the health system graduated from 2015 to 2017, and 31 graduated from 2018 to 2020. The percentage of students in each cohort who completed research projects increased significantly (48.5% vs 87.1%), the number of projects increased significantly (18 vs 35), the number of presentations increased significantly (29 vs 63), and the number of publications increased significantly (9 vs 20). The percentage of research students who pursued postgraduate training increased (68.8% vs 96.3%), as did their rate of placement into training programs (81.8% vs 92.3%). Of those students who did not participate in research, the percent who pursued training also increased (17.6% vs 75%), but the rate of placement remained the same (66.7%).Conclusion. Matching fourth-year student pharmacists to research preceptors at the beginning of the academic year and providing them with training and resources throughout the year was associated with increased research productivity.     

Implementation of a school-wide clinical intervention documentation system

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness and impact of a customized Web-based software program implemented in 2006 for school-wide documentation of clinical interventions by pharmacy practice faculty members, pharmacy residents, and student pharmacists.Methods. The implementation process, directed by a committee of faculty members and school administrators, included preparation and refinement of the software, user training, development of forms and reports, and integration of the documentation process within the curriculum.Results. Use of the documentation tool consistently increased from May 2007 to December 2010. Over 187,000 interventions were documented with over $6.2 million in associated cost avoidance.Conclusions. Successful implementation of a school-wide documentation tool required considerable time from the oversight committee and a comprehensive training program for all users, with ongoing monitoring of data collection practices. Data collected proved to be useful to show the impact of faculty members, residents, and student pharmacists at affiliated training sites.     

Addressing the Need for Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the Pipeline for Pharmacy Faculty

Objective. To analyze the ethnic and racial diversity of faculty in pharmacy, medicine, and dentistry in the United States and suggest how the pipeline for pharmacy academe can be diversified.Methods. A retrospective analysis of the representativeness of faculty at schools and colleges of pharmacy was compared to that in schools and colleges of medicine and dentistry. The range of ethnic and racial diversity across top schools of pharmacy, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and newer schools of pharmacy was evaluated for both faculty and students for the year 2019-2020. The ethnic and racial diversity in residency and fellowship programs along with graduation rates provided insight into the available pipeline for future pharmacy faculty.Results. Faculty in pharmacy, medicine, and dentistry demonstrated similarly low representation of underrepresented minorities (URMs) compared to their composition within the US population. Dentistry had the largest percentage of URMs (13.9%), compared with 8.5% in pharmacy and 7.1% in medicine. Five HBCUs contributed 32.8% of all Black faculty, yet their graduates had comparatively low residency match rates. The ratio of URM students to non-URM students in post-PharmD and graduate training programs is lower than the ratio of URM students to non-URM students in pharmacy programs.Conclusion. Lack of access to postgraduate residency or fellowship training programs is a major barrier to progression to pharmacy academe and impacts URMs more significantly. Barriers to advanced training must be removed or decreased to create the needed diverse faculty candidates for pharmacy academe. Without intervention, students in pharmacy programs will be primarily trained by non-URM faculty, which may impact how graduates provide care in an increasingly diverse patient population.