Julianna Burton

Her Story

Dr. Burton received her pharmacy degree from the University of the Pacific in 1999 and completed her residency at St. Joseph's Hospital in Stockton, CA. After completing her residency, she received her BCPS in 2003 and her BCACP in 2012, followed by her Masters in Business, Health Administration in 2018.

Dr. Burton is the Director of Ambulatory Care Pharmacy for the UC System in California.

Describe the facility where you work (eg. Is it a teaching hospital? Health Center? 

University of California is a statewide teaching hospital and health system covering all of California. There are 10 campuses under its umbrella, as well as 6 health related sites, including UC Davis, UC San Francisco, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Los Angeles and UC Riverside. The first five of the health sites have a major hospital attached to their programs, and three of the sites have pharmacy schools attached as well. There are 9.5 M outpatients treated across the system per year as well as 1.6 M inpatient days.

Recent Significant Projects

With the creation of a new position at the Office of the President, Dr. Burton has been involved in several system wide initiatives such as aligning preceptor hour definitions, gaining access to system-wide contracts for Transitions of Care, Specialty, and Ambulatory Care. She has also helped to facilitate the work that comes out of the outpatient versions of UC Pharmacy's Collaborative Teams (PCTs). These 24 teams of specific specialty areas meet monthly and work on system wide projects that allow the UC pharmacy department to share best practices and improve operations.

Initial Involvement in ASHP

I'm currently on the Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners, Educational Steering Committee and I serve as a surveyor for ASHP residency accredation programs.

Why did you become involved in ASHP? 

I've been a member of ASHP since going into pharmacy school and I've been very active in my local and state associations. More recently, given the change in my role from site specific to more of a system wide director, there is a lot of value in getting more involved at the national level.

Advice for Someone New to Specialty Area 

Being someone who loves to learn, I've always taken the opportunity to discover new ways to do things, develop new processes and keep an open mind. This has enabled me to move to many different areas of the pharmacy system and bring ideas from across the system into ambulatory care pharmacy.

How would you explain the value of ASHP to a friend or colleague?

While most people know that ASHP can provide CE and assistance in getting information in the pharmacy profession, the most useful part of joining ASHP is getting access to the networking it provides. Finding the niche group of pharmacists working in your area and being able to work with them to find new ways to improve your own service is invaluable.

What is the value of ASHP for the profession?

 ASHP provides a platform for pharmacists to learn, network and advocate for our interests at the national level.