June 2023
Greetings everyone,
It has been such a productive year for our Section, and I have to thank all of you, Section members, for your wonderful contributions this past year. Your continued engagement and dedication have helped us continue to live the mission and vision of our Section as well as accomplish our goals this year.
Your Executive Committee has been quite busy this year! We continue to maintain the momentum of last year’s Executive Committee Priority to increase our outreach to elementary, high school, and college students to showcase various careers in pharmacy through video interviews as found on Careers in Health-System Pharmacy - ASHP.
The Executive Committee Priorities for 2022-2023 is to build upon last year’s priority in addition to the mission and vision of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force through BIPOC professional development. We also worked on various actionable items for pharmacy workforce to support DEI efforts and elevating pharmacy practice by ensuring more educational offerings on DEI topics, adding elements of DEI requirements into all educational proposal worksheets (webinars, podcasts, platform presentations), and requiring the use of appropriate, non-stigmatizing language for all educational sessions. We have also been hard at work on developing programming to showcase various clinical areas of focus e.g., Transplant Pharmacy, through webinars and podcasts.
During the Midyear Clinical Meeting, we heard the voice of your SAG leadership. Because of their input, we identified all state licensure renewal requirements and ensured that ASHP’s CE offerings have the appropriate tags to assist with specific requirements e.g., opioid, patient safety, etc. This should facilitate your search on ASHP’s CE portal for your continuing education needs. We want to be your source and home for your professional needs!
In addition, we have endorsed several practice documents in collaboration with other organizations:
- SCCM Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis Guidelines
- AHA-ACC Coronary Artery Revascularization Performance Measures
The Section Advisory Groups have also been quite busy this year! We heard your voice and have planned several programming to meet your professional needs.
- Various Resource Centers (Emergency Medicine, Emerging Sciences, Pediatrics, Pharmacogenomics) are in the process of being updated.
- Several podcasts have been recorded for ASHP Therapeutic Thursdays!
- We have submitted several proposals for the 2023 Midyear Clinical Meeting and anticipate another fun Clinical Pearls and Therapeutic Debates sessions. In addition, our Educational Steering SAG has been working on Therapeutic Gems as well!
- Activity on Twitter remains high with several chats scheduled on topics such as “Dysfunctions of a Team” among many others. Be sure to search for out Twitter Chats using the hashtag #SCSSChat
- Various webinars have been offered to meet your professional and license renewal needs as well:
- Delirium in the PICU
- Buprenorphine: Next Steps and Best Practices
With the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act’s removal of the X-waiver requirement to prescribe medications for opioid use disorder (OUD), many of us will find ourselves at the forefront of managing OUD patients. Again, ASHP and the SCSS have shown their agility in responding to these changes and their impact on pharmacy practice through advocacy and education. More recently, HHS extends PREP Act for certain pharmacists and technician services, which shows “HHS’s recognition of the key role the pharmacy workforce plays in protection our nation’s public health” as Tom Kraus, ASHP Vice President of Government Relations, noted.
As my term comes to close, I would like to thank you! The success of this year has been all thanks to you, SCSS members, and your continued dedication and engagement. I would like to thank our 2022-2023 SCSS Executive Committee members for your support and friendship. To Vicki, I am immensely grateful for the help you have provided! You all have made my time as Chair so memorable! As I bid my adieu, I will remain engaged with the Section and with ASHP and leave knowing you’re in good hands with our new Chair, Nancy MacDonald. Thank you for this honor to serve you as Chair.
Best regards,
Christi
Christi Jen, PharmD, BCPS, FASHP, FAzPA
Chair, Section of Clinical Specialists and Scientists
[email protected]