Allison King

Allison’s Story

Allison King, Pharm.D., graduated from the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Pharmacy and then completed a Drug Information Residency at the University of Kansas Hospital. After her residency, she took a faculty position at the University of Kansas where Dr. King was a Clinical Assistant Professor for six years and worked in the Drug Information Center. Dr. King maintained a mandatory APPE rotation for all University of Kansas Doctor of Pharmacy students where she precepted approximately 105 students annually. She also taught didactic lectures throughout the curriculum and served as a preceptor for the multiple residency programs at the University of Kansas Hospital.

Dr. King is an active member of the Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners’ Pharmacy Practice Experiences Advisory Group and a member of a subcommittee which is in the process of creating a Busy Day Toolkit for preceptors. Previously, Dr. King was a member of the ASHP New Practitioner’s Forum Pharmacy Practice Advisory Group for three years and Director of Programs for the Greater Kansas City Society of Health-System Pharmacists for two years.

Facility

Dr. King currently works at a pediatric hospital in the Kansas City metro area as an investigational drug pharmacist where she supports both inpatient and outpatient clinical trials. She is also the residency coordinator for the PGY1 residency. Dr. King is a member of Children’s Mercy Investigational Review Board, Clinical Pharmacy Practice Council, Medication Process & Safety subcommittee, and Formulary Committee.

Significant Projects

While at University of Kansas, Dr. King published several articles on the topic of gluten in medications, and as part of her ASHP involvement, she published several articles on the topic of writing and publishing. Dr. King has given continuing education lectures regarding challenges associated with young faculty positions, becoming a journal reviewer and publishing your residency project. She was awarded Faculty Preceptor of the Year in 2010 by the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy Doctor of Pharmacy students.

While in her current position, Dr. King helped create policies and procedures for investigational pharmacy, helping to establish guidelines in an area which has and is encountering tremendous growth.

Dr. King is involved in several projects within in the department currently. This includes a subcommittee to establish standard education sheets for pharmacists to use when providing counseling to patients and their families; development of a survey to examine the perceived value and impact of services of the pharmacy from various medical staff; examining delays in medication order verification; and adoption of the new ASHP PGY1 standards including development of preceptor and preceptor-in-training definitions.

Advice for Someone New to Your Specialty Area

“Give yourself three years to fill your plate when you change positions (or finish your residency). Our natural tendency is to want to be involved; so we often will fill our plate as fast as possible with projects, but the projects may not be the best use of our skills or our specific practice interests. If you give yourself time to fill your plate, you will be available when projects develop and be able to choose projects maximize your skills and are of importance to you (or your practice area).”

“Wait at least six months, if not a full year in a position before you criticize people or processes (unless you were hired with the intention of changing something). It is important to fully understand the background and to be educated. Your suggestions will be taken more seriously and be of a higher quality than if you rush into making a suggestion for the sake of proving yourself.”

Involvement in ASHP

Dr. King initially became involved with ASHP, “to help shape the future of pharmacy and to give back. I want to be a part in shaping the future and not letting the future shape me.”

ASHP’s Value to Members

“ASHP is about the future of the profession and how we can create a better tomorrow. They have the best intentions for the profession and are always looking to improve something. To me, ASHP helps me shape the future and not remain stagnant in my career.”