Kyle M. Johnicker, PharmD (kyle.johnicker@nm.org), is the clinical coordinator at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb, Illinois. His day-to-day activities include supporting the frontline staff, overseeing clinical operations, and liaising with providers. Interdisciplinary collaboration and professional drive has led to expansion of pharmacy services within his facility. Listening and working with staff from both pharmacy and other service lines is critical to success as a leader and department. He actively precepts students, leads the local medication safety committee and pharmacy and therapeutics committee, and is active with the antimicrobial and diagnostic stewardship program (ADSP). In addition to his local site responsibilities, he participates in system level work with clinical initiatives, medication safety, and ADSP. Johnicker graduated with his PharmD from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN. His pharmacy career has been spent in small, rural and/or resource limited facilities across central Indiana and Northern Illinois in a variety of positions, including staff/clinical, clinical manager, and director of pharmacy. Johnicker is an active member of ASHP. He has served on the Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners advisory group on Small and Rural Hospitals for the past five years, including as vice chair and chair. He has participated at ASHP’s Midyear Clinical Meeting as a presenter, moderator for the keynote speaker during for the Small and Rural Hospital Programming, and facilitator of the Small and Rural Hospital roundtable and networking session. He has also contributed to several podcasts, webinars, and roundtables through ASHP.
Meet Kyle M. Johnicker
My work within ASHP and career as a practitioner in small, rural, and resource limited hospitals has shown to me that pharmacists are crucial to the safe and effective distribution of healthcare, and I believe that we will see our profession continue to expand. Healthcare is an ever-changing field that requires those involved to remain active and engaged. I value ASHP’s efforts to connect pharmacists across the nation, advocate for the profession, and push the boundaries of what it means to be a pharmacist. My current position at a small community hospital exists within a large health system that ranges from an academic medical center to a critical access hospital. This dynamic requires awareness and recognition of practice differences. From my experience and as a leader, it is my philosophy that working together for the common good includes taking perspectives from all avenues of our profession and is crucial to this continued growth. We must never forget that keeping the patient first and centered in our initiatives will elevate the role of a health system pharmacist. It is an incredible honor to be recognized and slated for the Director-at-Large role. If given the chance, I will apply my experiences and understanding to help ASHP and the Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners to advance the entire pharmacy profession, while ensuring that the vision includes the small, rural, and resource limited facilities.