Academic Pharmacy Now: 2016 Issue 3

The News Magazine of the American Association of Colleges of PharmacyNOW Volume 9 2016 Issue 3

Also in this issue:

Refuting a High-Risk Claim 5

Have Passion for Pharmacy,

Will Travel 8

Academic Pharmacy

A growing need for tech-savvy pharmacists has schools incorporating IT into their curricula. 12

Informatics IN DEMAND

Academic Pharmacy NOW 2016 Issue 32

@AACPharmacywho we are

Letters to the EditorWe welcome your comments. Please submit all letters to the editor to [email protected].

About Academic Pharmacy NowAcademic Pharmacy Now highlights the work of AACP member pharmacy schools and faculty. The magazine is published as a membership service.

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©2016 by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. All rights reserved. Content may not be reprinted without prior written permission.

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Founded in 1900, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy is the national organization representing the interests of pharmacy education. AACP comprises all accredited colleges and schools of pharmacy, including more than 6,600 faculty, approximately 63,800 students enrolled in professional programs and 4,800 individuals pursuing graduate study.

CEO & PublisherLucinda L. Maine

Editorial Director Lynette R. Bradley-Baker

EditorMaureen Thielemans [email protected]

Editorial AssistantKyle R. Bagin

[email protected]

Art DirectorTricia [email protected]

Freelance WriterJane E. Rooney

Web AssistantSean Clark

[email protected]

Senior Advisor, Outreach and CommunicationsStephanie Saunders [email protected]

Freelance WriterAthena Ponushis

Academic PharmacyNOW Volume 9

2016 Issue 3

The News Magazine of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy

Academic Pharmacy NOW 2016 Issue 3 3

@AACPharmacya look inside

Refuting a High-Risk ClaimUF researchers find ADHD drug does not heighten suicide risk despite FDA warning.

5 6

community impact

@AACPharmacy

campus connection

#PharmEd16 Sneak PeekAcademic pharmacy is gearing up for its premiere event, Pharmacy Education 2016, July 23–27. Take a look at just some of the meeting highlights that are sure to educate and inspire.

8 Have Passion for Pharmacy, Will TravelA new global health opportunity at UW–Madison aims to advance the profession and ignite a spark in future faculty.

Medications That Don’t MixMore elderly using dangerous drug combinations.

17 18Welcome to Academic PharmacyGet to know the newest members of the AACP staff.

12 Informatics In DemandA growing need for tech-savvy pharmacists means health IT is being interwoven into pharmacy school curricula. And as a result, graduates are becoming leaders in the use of healthcare technology.


community impactpublisher’s note

Dear Colleagues:

Earlier this month I completed several commencement events, wishing the Class of 2016 Pharm.D. graduates and their colleagues completing graduate studies many years of rewarding professional pursuits. It is truly one of my favorite activities as a leader in academic pharmacy. I return to a theme at the end of almost every commence-ment address that expresses my genuine envy for these graduates. There have been so many changes in the profession and society in the decades since I crossed the stage to receive my pharmacy diploma, but the magni-tude of change that will occur for these pharmacists and scientists is almost unfathomable.

Two articles in this issue of Academic Pharmacy Now bring my message into sharper focus. Certainly technolo-gy is a driver of change across all sectors, and healthcare is no exception! Pharmacists will be able to provide much more effective patient care services as health informa-tion technology (HIT) matures to connect their work with the work of patients’ other providers. Ensuring that pharmacists have access to these systems, which increas-ingly will include data generated by consumers’ own health devices, places the nation’s most accessible health-care professional in an amazing position to serve as the primary resource for a range of wellness, prevention, primary care and chronic care management services.

Pharmacists were among the first to adopt computers in their delivery of prescriptions and other services. It is natural that they will champion the use of integrated technology and be among the most willing and able health professionals to use it for both individual and

population level analysis and activities. This requires sufficient focus in the curriculum and, as profiled in the magazine, potentially the need for advanced education or postgraduate training for those who seek to make a career specifically in HIT.

Pharmacists must also participate actively in policy development at the local, state and national level. This is not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination, but the stakes are higher today than ever before. Why? Be-cause pharmaceutical health policy is a more significant component of policy discussions and decisions at every level. AACP celebrates Jeanette Roberts’ commitment to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Policy Fellowship this year and encourages all fac-ulty to seriously consider how they might engage more deeply in similar activities to augment their careers.

AACP leaders and staff look forward to seeing many of you at Pharmacy Education 2016, the annual meeting in Anaheim. In addition to being a fabulous networking and learning platform, the meeting provides the oppor-tunity to reflect on our successes of the past year and set the direction for the year to come. You won’t want to miss a minute!

Sincerely,

Lucinda L. Maine, Ph.D., R.Ph. CEO and Publisher

www.ajpe.org

Help Shape the Future of PharmacyBecome a Reviewer for AJPEA complete list of reviewer instructions can be found on AJPE’s Web site at www.ajpe.org.


community impact

Refuting a High-Risk ClaimUF researchers find ADHD drug does not heighten suicide risk despite FDA warning.

Almut G. Winterstein, R.Ph., Ph.D., professor and chair of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy.

For more than a decade, a black box warning from the Food and Drug Administration has accompanied the ADHD drug atomoxetine cautioning users of an increased risk of suicidal thoughts. But University of Florida College of Pharmacy researchers found no evidence that children taking ato-moxetine were at an increased risk of suicide or suicide attempts.

“Parents generally struggle to weigh the risks and benefits associated with ADHD drug treatment options,” said Dr. Almut Winterstein, a professor and chair of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy at the College of Pharmacy and co-author of the study. “Having the suicidality safety concern studied and shown that it does not exist will help parents and doctors make more informed decisions related to the treat-ment of ADHD.”

UF researchers evaluated a half million children with attention-deficit hyper-

activity disorder, or ADHD, in 26 states for four years. The study assessed whether atomoxetine, which is not classified as a stimulant, was associated with an increased risk of suicidal events when compared with stimulant drugs typically prescribed for ADHD. The findings, which showed no increased risk of suicide attempts among 5- to 18-year-olds treated with atomoxetine compared with those receiving stimu-lant treatment, were published in the journal Pediatrics.

Stimulants are the most commonly pre-scribed medication for ADHD. Stimu-lants can temporarily increase energy levels and concentration, alleviating symptoms of ADHD such as inatten-tion and hyperactivity. Doctors have long prescribed stimulants, despite side effects that include increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure and addiction concerns.

Of the 300,000 children UF research-ers studied using atomoxetine or stimulants as a first-line treatment, 140 suicide events were observed. For the 220,000 patients taking atomoxetine as a second treatment option, 90 suicide events were observed. UF research-ers found no statistical significance in these results that suggested atom-oxetine increased the risk of suicidal events compared with stimulants.

“The massive safety concern associated with the drug label warning probably affected the prescription choices made by physicians,” Winterstein said. “Our study’s findings indicate that increased suicidal event concerns are not war-ranted, and some adolescents might benefit from having the black box warn-ing removed from the medication.”

To read more about this research, visit http://bit.ly/1TaWLON. P


community impact

According to the study, older adults using at least five prescription medications (a status known as polypharmacy) rose from 30.6 percent in 2005 to 35.8 percent in 2011.

One in six older adults now regular-ly use potentially deadly combina-tions of prescription and over-the-counter medications and dietary supplements—a two-fold increase over a five-year period, according to new research at the University of Illi-nois at Chicago College of Pharmacy.

Dr. Dima Mazen Qato, assistant profes-sor of pharmacy systems, outcomes and policy, and her colleagues examined changes in medication use in a nation-ally representative sample of older adults between the ages of 62 and 85. In contrast to many existing studies of medication use by the elderly, these investigators conducted in-home inter-views to accurately identify what people were actually taking.

According to the study, older adults using at least five prescription medica-tions (a status known as polypharmacy) rose from 30.6 percent in 2005 to 35.8 percent in 2011.

Factors that may account for the rise include the implementation of Medicare Part D, changes in treatment guidelines, and the increased availability of gener-ics for many commonly used drugs.

As an example, the use of simvastatin (Zocor)—the most commonly used pre-scription medication in the older adult population, which became available as a generic in 2006—doubled from 10.3 percent to 22.5 percent, Qato said. Zocor is used to treat high cholesterol and may reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Medications That Don’t Mix More elderly using dangerous drug combinations.By Sam Hostettler

Supplement Use on the RiseDespite limited evidence of their clini-cal benefit, dietary supplements are be-ing used by a growing number of older individuals, the study found—an in-crease from 51.8 percent to 63.7 percent over the same time period, with nearly a 50 percent growth in the number of people using multiple supplements. The largest increase was found in the use of omega-3 fish oils—a dietary supplement with limited evidence of cardiovascular benefits—which rose from 4.7 percent of people surveyed in 2005 to 18.6 per-cent in 2011.

Fifteen potentially life-threatening drug combinations of the most com-monly used medications and supple-ments in the study were also identi-fied. Nearly 15 percent of older adults regularly used at least one of these dangerous drug combinations in 2011, compared to 8 percent in 2005.

More than half of the potential inter-actions involved a nonprescription medication or dietary supplement, Qato said. Preventative cardiovascular medications such as statins (cholester-ol-lowering drugs, particularly simv-astatin), anti-platelet drugs (such as clopidogrel and aspirin, used to prevent blood clots), and supplements (specifi-cally omega-3 fish oil) accounted for the

vast majority of these interacting drug combinations.

Cardiovascular prevention efforts and treatment guidelines promoting pri-mary prevention may be undermined by these interactions, Qato said.

“Many older patients seeking to improve their cardiovascular health are also regularly using interacting drug combi-nations that may worsen cardiovascular risk,” she said. “For example, the use of clopidogrel in combination with the proton-pump inhibitor omeprazole, aspirin, or naproxen—all over-the-counter medications—is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks, bleeding complications, or death. How-ever, about 1.8 percent—or 1 million—older adults regularly use clopidogrel in interacting combinations.”

Counseling is CriticalHealthcare professionals should carefully consider the adverse effects of commonly used prescription and nonprescription medication combina-tions when treating older adults, Qato said, and counsel patients about the risks. “Improving safety in the use of interacting medication combinations has the potential to reduce preventable, potentially fatal, adverse drug events,” she said.


community impact

“Improving safety in the use of interacting medication combinations has the potential to reduce preventable, potentially fatal, adverse drug events.”

— Dr. Dima Mazen Qato

More than half of potential interactions involved a nonprescription medication or dietary supplement, says Dima Mazen Qato, Pharm.D.,

Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of pharmacy systems, outcomes and policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy.

While it is not known how many older adults in the U.S. die of drug interactions, Qato said, “the risk seems to be growing, and public awareness is lacking.”

Co-authors of the research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, are Jocelyn Wilder of UIC; L. Philip Schumm and Victoria Gillet of the Uni-versity of Chicago; and Dr. G. Caleb Alexander of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

The National Social Life, Health and Aging Project is supported by grants R01AG021487 and R01AG033903 from the National Institutes of Health, including the National Institutes on Aging, the Office of Women’s Health Research, the Office of AIDS Research, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. P

Sam Hostettler is associate director in the News Bureau, where he covers the UIC colleges

of Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy.


community impact

After serving as dean at the University of Wiscon-sin–Madison School of Pharmacy, Jeanette Roberts, Ph.D., M.P.H., traveled to South Africa to lay the groundwork for a new level of partnership with the University of the Western Cape School of Pharmacy.

Dr. Jeanette Roberts lives by the ethos: You will never know the extent of your reach. Growing up in Pennsylva-nia, her high school chemistry teacher sparked her interest in science. She later found her perfect blend of chemistry and biology in medicinal chemistry.

Presently, Roberts is in Washington, D.C., immersed in Congress as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow, right at the crossing where health sci-ences education and practice collide with policy and politics.

In between her youth and having a voice in health policy during her work with Congress, Roberts served as dean

health rotations were set up in South Africa at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town and Potchefstroom University near Johannesburg. UW chose South Africa because administra-tors thought they could make an impact there, while simultaneously learning lessons they could apply back home. Plus, they wanted to continue to grow a layered portfolio of opportunities in global health work.

Shortly after stepping down as dean, she traveled to South Africa to lay the groundwork for a new level of partner-ship with the University of the Western Cape School of Pharmacy. Together, they launched a novel postgraduate pharmacy fellowship, which in her mind will mold a whole new generation of clinician scientist to address future problems and create brilliant faculty members in the future.

“We wanted to focus the fellowship on principles of quality improvement and system strengthening, among others, and there definitely needs to be system strengthening in healthcare in South Africa. We thought we could really contribute while learning ourselves,” she said.

Have Passion for Pharmacy, Will TravelA new global health opportunity at UW–Madison aims to advance the profession and ignite a spark in future faculty.By Athena Ponushis

of the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy in Madison for more than a decade. She’ll return to Madison in September to serve as director of the new UW Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education.

“One of my priorities as dean was to expand the global health opportuni-ties that our students could experi-ence during their rotations, and so we deliberately set about finding interna-tional partners,” Roberts said. “I firmly believe that you have to step out of your comfort zone, and hopefully your own back yard, before you really can consider yourself an educated person.” Among other sites, two new global


community impact

“There are a lot of gaps in our knowledge about the use and misuse of antibiotics and the problems that’s creating with resistant organisms.”

— Dr. Jeanette Roberts

University of Wisconsin–Madison administrators chose South Africa for global health rotations

because they felt the sites allowed them to both make a local impact and learn lessons applicable

back in the United States.

“The UW pharmacy fellowship is fairly unique not because it’s a pharmacy fellowship, there are many available, but because of its focus. I don’t know of any other postgraduate opportunity in pharmacy that’s focused on global health, and further, on system strength-ening and quality improvement. That’s what makes our offering unique.”

Her Pathfinding MissionSomeone needed to go to South Africa and gain firsthand experience of the healthcare system in order to best plan for the fellowship launch. Roberts traveled there twice, gleaning a real, in-depth experience with the politics of healthcare, the nature of and issues with the system, especially as it related to pharmacy, and the delivery of phar-macy services and products.

“My first trip was focused in Cape Town, where I visited hospitals and clinics and talked to the provincial government people, many NGOs (non-government organization), pharmacy, public health, and medical faculty, and all kinds of different folks. I tried to get a sense of what was happening, what they desired to be happening, what issues there were

and so forth. I pretty quickly came to the conclusion that a research project in the area of antibiotic resistance and stewardship would be extremely valu-able both to the people in South Africa, as well as the U.S. and Wisconsin,” Roberts said. “The point was to whittle down potential research project oppor-tunities into something that we could re-ally get our hands around, so we did that, focusing on antibiotic stewardship.”

During her second trip to South Africa, she spent time in Johannesburg, inter-acting with national leaders in health as well as a number of universities and schools of pharmacy, broadening her ex-perience so she could see the issues the country was facing from a national view.

“We then started to search for an ap-propriate fellow to take on this task and one of our own UW graduates immediately came to mind, although

we had additional applicants,” she said. Dr. Laurel Legenza (Pharm.D. ’13) soon accepted the offer to become the inaugural Comparative Global Health Pharmacy Fellow.

Advancing Leadership and the Profession’s Global ReachLegenza is nearing the end of the first year of her two-year fellowship. She has been to South Africa once already and will be traveling back in July for several months. She’s working with a number of public sector teaching hospitals, tracking antibiotic use and observ-ing stewardship efforts. She intends to map antibiotic resistance patterns in Wisconsin and may apply the same technique in South Africa. She will also earn a Ph.D. from the University of the Western Cape, becoming one of the clinician scientists of tomorrow that Roberts foresees.


community impact

Photos taken by Roberts in South Africa. Global health presents a wealth of opportunities to improve patient care, she says.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison plans to host a South African pharmacy fellow in the future, who will have a cor-responding experience, and in this capac-ity, Roberts sees the benefits of health work abroad moving beyond the fellows.

“We need to work together to expose the problems of antibiotic resistance and convince the global community that we’re really shooting ourselves in both feet in terms of our use of antibiotics in humans and food animals…and inap-propriately overprescribing and overus-ing these agents in such a way that they’re losing their ability to do their intended work on infectious disease,” she said. “I think there’s an underly-ing global awareness-raising need that applies to every country on the planet.” She points to the article in the Wash-

ington Post on May 27, 2016, describing a Pennsylvania woman who is the first person in the U.S. infected with a strain of E. coli resistant to colistin, an antibi-otic of last resort.

The Future of Global Health Work As much as Roberts believes an experi-ence overseas may enrich the life of a student, she also sees global health work as an equally valuable experience for pharmacy faculty.

“Seeing how practice is accomplished elsewhere shines a light on how we op-erate and ways we can improve patient care, so it’s equally beneficial, I think, for faculty development and research activities,” she said. “Global health pres-ents a wealth of such opportunities.”

As far as impacting patient care, Rob-erts says if we can develop a straight-forward, easy-to-use system to record antibiotic prescribing and adminis-tering, and mine the data to unveil patterns of resistance, we may be able to understand what the bugs are doing and to what drugs they are becoming resistant. We can only know that if we better track the use of antibiotics from the beginning. That’s not done well in South Africa or even in the U.S., she said. “There are a lot of gaps in our knowledge about the use and misuse of antibiotics and the problems that’s creating with resistant organisms.” The hope is that the UW fellowship will help close these gaps. P

Athena Ponushis is a freelance writer based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.


The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is hosting the first-of- its-kind Global Conference on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education. Together we will set the future milestones for education and workforce development of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.

Join as an individual

FIP has selected 40 country delegations in order to have a broad representation of the different needs of the pharmacy workforce, education systems, cultural and language aspects. But you as an individual may also join the conference to give important input into the discussions.

You will also have full access and are able to take part in the workshops.

The only difference is that individuals are not able to vote.

The conference will create a dialogue and consensus among practice,

science, education leaders and regulators on how pharmaceutical

workforce competence can be assured through education. There is a

maximum of 300 individual participants worldwide.

Sign up today and join!

Creating a global visionfor a global workforce

Why China?

China is the right place to host the first Global Conference on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education because the country is going through a major reform in pharmacy edu-cation, and the international community can benefit from the findings of this rapidly evolving, innovative environment.

Conference participants will also have the chance to visit the campus

of the China Pharmaceutical University – the biggest pharmacy school

in China, with more than 15,000 full-time students. This is a unique

opportunity to learn from a leading institution, known for its high level,

pioneering methodologies and advocative role.

Organisers

Sponsors

FIP thanks the following

organisations for their support:

American Association of

Colleges of Pharmacy

FIP Corporate Roundtable on

Education members

Federation of Pharmaceutical

Manufacturers’ Associations of

Japan // GlaxoSmithKline // McCann

Health // Nagai Foundation //

Pfizer

5th FIP Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress Melbourne, Australia 13-16 April 2014

VenueThe conference will take place at

the Purple Palace Nanjing Hotel.

For more information and bookings,

please visit:

www.fip.org/nanjing2016

Sign upFor any questions, please email

Ms Joana Carrasqueira, FIPEd

coordinator:

[email protected]

JOIN US IN NANJING

AND SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE

PROFESSION


campus connection



campus connection

Information technology is inextricably linked to almost every facet of our daily lives, and healthcare is no exception. Setting standards, maintaining databases, e-prescribing and medication dissemination are just a few examples of the myriad ways that technology is changing the pharmacy landscape.

A growing need for tech-savvy pharmacists means health IT is being interwoven into pharmacy school curricula. And as a result, graduates are becoming leaders in the use of healthcare technology. By Jane E. Rooney



campus connection

“The push to adopt electronic health records has allowed all health professionals to increase their use of different types of technology and recognize that they need to be involved in these national movements,” according to Dr. Kevin Fuji, as-sistant professor of pharmacy practice, and director, Center for Health Services Research and Patient Safety, at Creigh-ton University. “Pharmacy has always been a technology-fo-cused field; electronic health records build upon pharmacists’ existing technology use and are a gateway to interacting with other types of technologies such as clinical decision support, computerized provider order entry, barcoding, etc.”

IT systems now help pharmacists with automation, prescrip-tion and order fulfillment, setting standards for medication distribution, prior authorizations and quality assurance. Standards 2016 dictates that training address automation and analytics so students are prepared for careers that in-volve working with tools and systems that give pharmacists real-time, point-of-care information.

Technology’s widespread application across the entire healthcare sector means that today’s pharmacists require knowledge of health informatics. Dr. Armen Simonian, as-sistant dean and chair of clinical and administrative sciences and associate professor, Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) School of Pharmacy, believes every pharmacy school should incorporate an informatics course into the curriculum.

“There has to be at least some basic teaching of principles such as knowledge of electronic health records and automa-tion. These are tools that every pharmacist will use when they go out and enter practice,” he said.

Pharmacy schools are beginning to heed this advice as stu-dents seek out curricula that offer more specialized IT train-

ing. Employment sectors ranging from health systems and hospitals to community pharmacies to healthcare administra-tion are hiring for positions that require the ability to evalu-ate, develop, and interface with healthcare informatics tools.

Wanted: Healthcare IT Expertise Increased technology use in the pharmacy setting ideally means improved safety and quality of care. Greater interop-erability allows for a more complete picture of each patient.

“All graduates need to have a baseline level of informatics knowledge,” Fuji emphasized. “They are going to be interact-ing with some type of technology no matter what practice setting they are in.” That means understanding technology’s benefits as well as its limitations, he added. “Take e-prescrib-ing as an example. Handwriting is often illegible. Now you have a technology where you don’t have to worry about leg-ibility issues. We are inherently limited as humans, so these technologies are complementary to the expertise of pharma-cists. It provides more effective ways to use our knowledge.” The flip side, he said, is making mistakes that lead to unin-tended consequences. “A lot of e-prescribing programs use drop-down menus. It’s really easy for a prescriber to select a patient, medication, or dose right above or right below the one they intended to select. Pharmacists need to understand that the potential for these types of errors exist.”

Dr. Beth Breeden, associate professor, department of phar-macy practice, and director of graduate studies in healthcare informatics at Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, said informatics career opportunities are expanding with positions opening across all sectors. “You’ll see the need for clinical informatics in any city.” She added that she’s observing more practitioners who are already in

“The push to adopt electronic health records has allowed all health professionals to increase their use of different types of technology and recognize that they need to be involved in these national movements.”

— Dr. Kevin Fuji


campus connection

the workforce coming back for additional training to maxi-mize their career opportunities, as well as obtaining more advanced certifications in pharmacy informatics.

The ability to evaluate data and develop solutions using tech-nology also presents an opening for budding entrepreneurs.

“In many cities you’re starting to see significant venture capi-tal available for start-ups who are filling a need,” Breeden said. “Informatics is a perfect training ground to hone in on those entrepreneurial elements.”

Immersed in InformaticsLipscomb offers a multi-tiered health informatics curricu-lum, which ensures that graduates possess core competen-cies in the subject but also provides advanced education and training opportunities. The college of pharmacy is unique in that it offers a dual Pharm.D. and Master of Science degree in Health Care Informatics.

Student pharmacists complete required courses in health informatics and elective courses in consumer health infor-matics and project management. Introductory and advanced experiential education rotations are available at locations which allow students to be fully incorporated into the daily workflow and evaluate areas such as systems integration, personalized medicine, predictive analytics, and associated informatics elements. Site locations include academic medi-cal centers, specialty pharmacies and corporate entities.

“We offer an informatics internship for rising third-year students, which includes 8-10 weeks in a large academic medical center in Nashville,” she continued. “Students really immerse themselves in that process to see how systems are working.” Projects can include work on clinical decision sup-

port, computerized provider order entry, barcode medication administration and data analytics.

The school also offers a yearlong residency in informat-ics. Breeden said there are about 20-25 PGY2 informatics residencies across the country but she expects to see more develop in order to meet demand. “There is a need across many sectors, including the community pharmacy sector with larger pharmacy chains. I also see opportunities in the EMR vendor sector as well.”

The KGI School of Pharmacy offers a required course and an elective certificate program in health IT. “We have a required second-year course that involves 30 hours of class-room time and our certificate program is probably among a very few,” according to Simonian.

Students are exposed to a broad range of pharmacy infor-matics topics including electronic health records, e-prescrib-ing and clinical decision support. “We cover automation and different technologies that are used, and the medication use process,” he explained. “We also teach data analytics and explore the administrative side of selecting, implementing and optimizing systems. In the third year, we offer a series of six courses that are focused on health information technol-ogy starting with electronic health records, then a separate course on clinical decision support systems. We also address topics such as the application of technology to the medica-tion use process, and robotics and applications that help pharmacists do their jobs like prescribing, dispensing medi-cations and monitoring.”

Simonian said that because medication safety is paramount, the school also focuses on minimizing risks through in-

“There is a need across many sectors, including the community pharmacy sector with larger pharmacy chains. I also see opportunities in the EMR vendor sector as well.”

— Dr. Beth Breeden

campus connection


formatics. One course specifically addresses maintaining patient privacy and information security. In addition to the 12 credits of didactic instruction represented by these 6 HIT certificate courses, students also take 15 credits of experi-ential education. At the end of their second year, each HIT certificate student participates in a 3-week introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE), shadowing an infor-matics pharmacist. During their third year, each HIT certifi-cate student completes two, back-to-back, 6-week advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) rotations for a total of 12 weeks of HIT APPE precepted by a pharmacy informaticist.

A Growing Field Simonian emphasized that the industry needs to stay current as technology evolves, and that starts at the curricular level.

“Patients are becoming more involved with mobile applica-tions and there is a lot happening with telepharmacy and being able to interact with patients remotely. Some trends indicate that we’ll have more involvement in this specialty area of informatics.”

With the government offering incentives to hospitals and others in acute care settings for implementing electronic health record systems, pharmacists with informatics knowl-edge are in high demand. “You must have experts to imple-ment systems in a meaningful way to meet the government requirements,” Simonian said. “Vendors that are providing these EHR systems need pharmacists within their organiza-tions to continue to develop their systems.”

Breeden concurred that there is widespread need for phar-macists with informatics training and pointed out that nationwide metrics on available positions are currently very favorable. “We want students to realize a rapid return on investment through securing higher level positions and salaries,” she said.

Given the certainty that graduates will interact with tech-nology no matter what the practice setting, Fuji said it’s critical that students understand HIT so they can apply that knowledge wherever they land. “We need to see some type of integration across the curriculum,” he noted. “Students could use an electronic health record to review a patient’s profile and process a medication order, which deals with a drug interaction. I’d like to see those concepts tied together more closely—they can’t be taught in a bubble. You have to be able to use this wide range of skills in order to provide the best care for your patients.” P

Jane E. Rooney is a freelance writer based in Oakton, Virginia.

“There has to be at least some basic teaching of principles such as knowledge of electronic health records and automation. These are tools that every pharmacist will use when they go out and enter practice.”

— Dr. Armen Simonian

16


@AACPharmacy

Welcome to Academic PharmacyGet to know the newest members of the AACP staff.

Q: What are your main responsibilities at AACP?Currently, they are member services. I respond to member calls and e-mails on behalf of AACP and coordinate guests visiting the office. I’ll be helping to maintain the membership database and run queries and reports, but right now, I’m still getting familiar with the system. I’ve also played a role in registering attendees for the Annual Meeting.

Q: How have your previous experiences prepared you to work at AACP?At my previous job, in member services for a science-based non-profit, I learned a lot about structure and database skills. That organization had more than 180,000 members, so I’m excited to be able to have a more personal relationship with AACP’s members.

Q: What do you do for fun outside of the office?Exercise. I’m taking cardio-kick-boxing right now—I wanted to do something different than just going to the gym all the time. It’s a lot of cardio!

Latoya can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or 703-739-2330 ext. 1004.

Q: What are your main responsibilities at AACP? My work here is focused in two main areas: For academic affairs, I work with the associate executive vice president and senior director to assist them with meeting logistics, editing materials for programs such as CAPE and GAPEnet, and any other areas within AACP that they’re working with. As opera-tions manager, I ensure AACP facilities are amenable for staff to work effectively and efficiently.

Q: How have your previous experiences prepared you to work at AACP?I previously worked as an independent consultant with sev-eral firms across the country, and across various industries, from finance to healthcare. But across all sectors, there was a common factor that a strong focus on efficiency and effective-ness in work was critical to success.

One of the things that excited me most about AACP was the opportunity to work with an organization that has regional, national and even international implications, as it pertains to pharmacy education.

Q: Is there anything about yourself that you would like to share?I strive for growth, development and excellence. It’s important to continue to grow professionally as individuals within the organization, so we’re able to translate and share it with our members, as well as grow the organization and profession.

On a personal level, I’m a native Washingtonian and huge lo-cal sports fan. The Redskins, University of Maryland, George-town, too—I support all the local teams that play here.

Charles can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or 703-739-2330 ext. 1013.

Charles A. Johnson, MSMIM Academic Affairs and Operations Manager

Latoya Casteel Membership Services Coordinator


@AACPharmacy

#PharmEd16 Sneak PeekAcademic pharmacy is gearing up for its premiere event, Pharmacy Education 2016, July 23–27. Take a look at just some of the meeting highlights that are sure to educate and inspire.Industry InfluencersOpening General Session

Innovation is Everybody’s Business…and Our Future

Robert B. TuckerRobert B. Tucker, president of The Innovation Resource and a renowned global futur-ist, will discuss innovation, growth, change management and thriving in the workplace. Organizations and academic institutions are in constant need of individuals with the abilities and skills to think ahead of the curve and get new projects done. While profes-sionals with functional skills abound, those with Innovation Skills are emerging as the most valuable talent. In this practi-cal, highly interactive session, Tucker provides powerful tools and strategies to help you hone your Innovation Skills (I-Skills). You will learn to spot emerging opportunities, dem-onstrate initiative, add value, create unconventional solu-tions and get new things done more effectively and efficiently.

Tuesday General Session

Drew DudleyDrew Dudley, former coor-dinator of the largest aca-demic leadership program in Canada, believes “leadership cannot be taught. It can only be learned.” In this session, Dudley will help participants explore what leadership means to them and their communities. He will explore the concept of creating cul-tures of leadership by helping organizations and their people plan to matter. At the heart of the “planning to matter” approach is the belief that cultures of leadership are created when our leadership values are used to drive our behavior. It takes planning to ensure that happens. In this session, learn how to change the definition of leadership, and create an action plan to ensure that leadership is fostered, acknowledged and rewarded in homes, work-places, and communities.

Science Symposium

From Bench to Main Street: Translating Discovery Science into Tomorrow’s Cures

Lawrence Hurley, Ph.D. (moderator)

Mike Jacobson, Ph.D.

Ellen Beasley, Ph.D.

Dr. Lawrence Hurley, previous Dawson Award recipient and distinguished professor at The University of Arizona Col-lege of Pharmacy, will be joined by two outstanding scien-tists in this “fireside chat” on how to advance research from the bench to the bedside and beyond. Panelists include Dr. Mike Jacobson, founding dean at the University of North Texas College of Pharmacy and founder of Niadyne Pharma, and Dr. Ellen Beasley, chief science officer at Genomic Health. The group will discuss the discovery and commer-cialization of new diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

Topics of discussion include their experiences with trans-lational sciences, challenges they have faced, balancing academic and translational goals, future opportunities for students and faculty in pharmaceutical sciences, and bring-ing the next generation of products into healthcare for the benefit of patients and others. The panel’s comments will be followed by a period of Q&A from the audience.


@AACPharmacy

www.aacp.org/PharmEd16

On Twitter? Follow us! Tweet @AACPharmacy with #PharmEd16

AACP Annual Meeting/Anaheim Marriott / Anaheim Convention Center / Anaheim, California

July 23–27, 2016

New This YearThe Power of PastaThis year, AACP has partnered with Anaheim celebrity Chef Bruno’s Caterina’s Club in a new community service event held through-out the conference. The organization serves more than 1,800 low-income children a nutritionally balanced meal of freshly made pasta and vegetables five nights a week all year long.

Ways to donate:

• Use the AACP donation link to make a contribution online: http://www.cateri-nasclub.org/#intro. Click on the AACP logo under the Cause List.

• Bring the following items to the AACP Registration and Pathable Help Desk: vegetable marinara sauce (Barilla brand preferred as mass quantities will be made at one time) and/or any style of uncooked pasta (Barilla brand pre-ferred as mass quantities will be made at one time).

AACP TechXPO & Product TheaterAttendees will have the opportunity to hear from cutting-edge companies in the TechX-PO & Product Theater. Experts will present a featured product, service, research study or program information in a highly innova-tive format that is particularly relevant for education technology and any new product/services offered to academic pharmacy.

Get More Out of Annual MeetingJumpstart your learning at the 2016 Annual Meeting with three outstanding pre-sessions on Saturday, July 23:

Teachers Seminar: Dialogue on Foundations of Teaching8:30 a.m.–3:15 p.m.

Joseph T. DiPiro Excellence in Publishing Workshop8:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

Enhancing Your Impact as a Scholar: Learning the Art and Science of Being an Effective Reviewer

1:00 p.m.–3:15 p.m.

Spotlight on ExcellenceSunday

Robert K. Chalmers Distinguished Educator AwardTerry L. Schwinghammer, Pharm.D.West Virginia University School of Pharmacy

Lawrence C. Weaver Transformative Community Service AwardThe University of Arizona College of Pharmacy

Distinguished Teaching ScholarsNaser Z. Alsharif, Pharm.D., Ph.D.Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions

David A. Holdford, Ph.D.Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy

Melissa S. Medina, Ed.D.The University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy

Reza Mehvar, Pharm.D., Ph.D.Chapman University School of Pharmacy

MondayPaul R. Dawson AwardAlbert Wertheimer, Ph.D.Temple University School of Pharmacy

Volwiler Research Achievement AwardJulie A. Johnson, Pharm.D.University of Florida College of Pharmacy

Distinguished Service AwardInstitute for Safe Medication PracticesAccepting the award: Michael R. Cohen, R.Ph., M.S., FASHP, President

TuesdayRufus A. Lyman AwardL. Douglas Ried, Ph.D.University of Texas at Tyler

Charles A. Douglas, Ph.D., MBATexas A&M Health Science Center

September 26–282016 AACP Fall Institute: Strengthening Holistic Review in Pharmacy AdmissionsSheraton Charlotte Hotel Charlotte, N.C.

October 17–192016 AACP Encore Institute: Leading Edge: Transforming Experiential EducationHilton Washington Dulles Airport, Herndon, Va.

Coming This Fall

Documents

Academic Pharmacy Now: 2016 Issue 3