January 2024
Dear Colleagues,
The start of a New Year brings out the planner in me. There is something about a new, clean, crisp planner that reminds me of the possibilities of the upcoming year (spoiler alert: I typically buy my new planner in the summer.) Sending holiday cards allows me to reflect on the past year – I try to include pictures recapping our year as a family and write a top list for the year (top 23 for 2023 this year). I also like to reflect on the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting as it serves as a great reminder for my career goals and aspirations.
At Midyear this year, I felt as if Viola Davis was speaking directly to me during the opening session. As a residency program director (RPD) who incorporated the new residency standards into our program, a pharmacist interested in health economics, and a graduate student seeking her Masters in Healthcare Administration, I am familiar with health disparities among our patients and our profession. Viola’s message reminded me of our achievements in providing safe, accessible, and equitable care among our patients but also spoke of the work needed regarding diversity among our profession and continued attention to economic differences. I was motivated by ASHP’s effort to provide scholarships for students to attend Midyear this year. Viola’s message displayed persistence that all of us should strive to display.
I would also like to congratulate the Section of Inpatient Care Practitioner’s (SICP) Distinguished Service Award winner, Lois Parker. This annual award recognizes a member from our section whose volunteer activities have supported the mission of our section and have helped advance the profession. Thank you, Lois, for all you have contributed to patient care, SICP, and the profession throughout your distinguished career.
In addition to excellent educational programming, I hope many of you were able to participate in the multiple networking round table discussions facilitated by the Chairs of our section advisory groups (SAGs). I always leave a roundtable discussion with information to share back to my own institution as the information is timely and practical. Above all, I find camaraderie with pharmacists sharing the same concerns and know that I am not alone. Summaries of roundtable discussions are available in ASHP Connect Communities, and the discussions will be brought back to our SAGs, ESC, and Executive Committee. Your voices are heard.
Lastly, I find it important to recognize the work of our section advisory groups and educational steering committee. SICP continues to support the pharmacy workforce and SICP’s advisory groups.
The following list is a sampling of timely and relevant resources developed over the past year:
- Gap analysis tool for ASHP’s Guidelines on Preventing Diversion of Controlled Substances
- 503b assessment tool
- Resource Centers for Compounding and Formulary Management
- Medication Safety Dashboard
- USP <795> and <797> webinars
- Just Culture in Everyday Practice webinar
- Tools for Today: Intentional Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities webinar
- Compounding Conundrums podcasts
- Navigating metrics in Small and Rural Hospitals podcast
- Midyear programming on medication safety dashboard incorporation for Small and Rural Hospitals, Medication Safety and Quality Pearls, and Drug Shortage Management for Pharmacy Students
I want to close this message with a heartfelt thank you to the SICP Executive Committee and a blessing to our members. Thank you to Sarah Stephens, Lucas Schulz, Indrani Kar, Kathy Ghomeshi, and Sandeep Devabhakthuni for your time each month, support of our teams, and motivation to update our webpages on the ASHP site. And, to our members, I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I hope you were able to share time with those dear to you. As we begin 2024, I encourage us to think about what we want to accomplish, personally and professionally. Maybe try to make a 24 for 2024 list and include at least one goal incorporating ASHP and the Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners.
Allison King, PharmD, FASHP
Chair, Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners
[email protected]
