In celebration of National Pharmacy Week, ASHP Official is highlighting pharmacy practice leaders. In this episode, we speak with Jessica Skelley – 2020/2021 Chair of the ASHP Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners and Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy about her career journey, balancing personal and professional life, and her vision for the future of ambulatory care pharmacy practice.
SPEAKERS
Jessica W. Skelley is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at McWhorter School of Pharmacy and an ambulatory care pharmacist at St. Vincent's East Family Medicine (SVEFM)/Christ Health Center in Birmingham, Alabama, where she holds a dual faculty appointment with the family medicine residency program. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy from Samford University, McWhorter School of Pharmacy and went on to complete a PGY-1 residency in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2011, Dr. Skelley joined the faculty at Samford University where she currently teaches in various courses while maintaining an active family medicine rotation site at Christ Health Center for fourth year pharmacy students and PGY2 pharmacy residents. She maintains active memberships in AACP, AlSHP, Phi Lambda Sigma Pharmacy Leadership Honor Society, and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, where she currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners as Chair, and has served in the past as Director at Large and Chair of the Compensation and Practice Sustainability Advisory Group. In the Alabama Society of Health-System Pharmacists, she serves on the legislative affairs committee and practice advancement committee, and has previously served as an alternate delegate to the House of Delegates with ASHP. She is an item writer for the Ambulatory Care Board Certification Exam (BCACP), and has published in and serves as a reviewer for a variety of peer-reviewed journals. In 2013, Dr. Skelley was awarded the Margaret Self Propst Pharmacy Teacher of the Year Award, elected by the pharmacy student body as best exemplifying exceptional teaching and mentoring. In 2015, she was awarded Pharmacy Practice Faculty Member of the Year. In 2018, she received the Preceptor of the Year Award from the school of pharmacy, and the Preceptor of the Year Award from the St. Vincent's East Family Medicine Medical Residency Program. In 2019, she received the Emerging Teaching Scholar award from AACP.
Melanie R. Smith, Pharm.D., BCACP, DPLA is the Director of the ASHP Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners. In this role, Dr. Smith serves as the staff liaison to the Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners Executive Committee. She also acts as an ASHP information resource and provides guidance to ASHP members on pharmacy practice in various ambulatory care practice settings.
Previously, Dr. Smith was the Director, Educational Programs within ASHP's Educational Services Division. In this role, she helped coordinate continuing educational programming for ASHP's national meetings. Prior to joining ASHP, Dr. Smith was a Clinical Pharmacist II with United Healthcare as well as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist with the Roudebush VA Medical Center.
Dr. Smith received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of North Carolina and her Doctor of Pharmacy from Virginia Commonwealth University. She completed an ASHP-accredited PGY1 residency at the Lexington VA Medical Center in 2008 and obtained her Board Certification in Ambulatory Care in 2011.
