July 2024
Dear Colleagues,
“We are pharmacy, it is our story to tell, and we get to decide how this story unfolds.”
A few weeks ago, I returned from ASHP Pharmacy Futures 2024 in beautiful Portland, Oregon, after having heard these words from new ASHP President Leigh Briscoe-Dwyer. President Briscoe-Dwyer urged us all to take advantage of the opportunity presented with the new “We’re Your Pharmacist” public awareness campaign, and I could not agree more! These words made me reflect on how I talk about what I do as an ambulatory care pharmacist, and although not always easy to explain (even to my family), it is vital that we all keep talking about how we provide care for patients. It is our opportunity to show the public that ambcare really is the best care!
The focus on artificial intelligence (AI) at the meeting was thought provoking and informative. It will be important for us all to stay up-to-date on new developments, technologies and methods that AI can be used as a tool to enhance the care we deliver.
As usual, the House of Delegates was a blast! It was an honor to represent the section as a delegate, and rewarding to see several policies approved, including one on independent prescribing authority, which will help guide us as we continue to advance our roles in ambulatory care across the country. Many recommendations were also submitted by delegates for consideration moving forward, and our section collaborated to submit several, including the use of implementation science to drive sustainable pharmacy practice expansion and innovation, peer review, lactation support and transitions of care in postgraduate year 2 programs. Thanks to Melanie Dodd for her years of leadership as the chair of the House of Delegates, and congratulations to Jesse Hogue, the next chair!
This year has been a tremendous experience as chair of SACP, and it has been an honor to represent ambulatory care at various ASHP meetings such as Policy Week, Strategic Planning, and the Commission on Goals. It has also been humbling to see the hard work and deliverables produced by all of the section advisory groups and their leaders — what an amazing group of fun, hard-working and intelligent people we have in our section! A special thank you is for the group of people with whom I had the pleasure of working closely this past year on the Executive Committee: Jackie Boyle, Sara Panella, Daniel Truelove, Jordan Wulz and Ashley Parrott. This is a brilliant group of mentors and servant leaders that truly made my year memorable, engaging and fun! I look forward to continuing as Immediate Past Chair under the great leadership of incoming Chair Sara Panella — the section will be in excellent hands! Thank you as well to our board liaison, Jennifer Tryon: her wisdom, support and leadership in helping us align with ASHP’s initiatives was unmatched. We also had incredible ASHP staff, Hannah Vanderpool and Anne Policastri, who provided incredible support and guidance for our Executive Committee and the entire section; a difficult task at which they succeeded flawlessly as we said farewell to our former section director, Melanie Smith.
Finally, thank you to all the section members for your engagement, support, hard work, thought-provoking ideas and general awesomeness! It has been amazing to see everything you are all doing, and I’m excited to continue to serve and learn alongside you all! I hope to see many of you in New Orleans at ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition, and in the meantime, keep telling our story!
Sincerely,
Brody Maack, PharmD, BCACP, CTTS
Chair, Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners
sections@ashp.org
