Career Advancement Certificate Program

The mission of the ACCP Career Advancement Certificate Program is to assist clinical pharmacists in further advancing their career development as they embark on new clinical endeavors. Significant changes in the practice of clinical pharmacy have created a need to further develop pharmacists who have already completed clinical training through residency or work experiences. This academy has been strategically developed by ACCP, consistent with the organization's mission, to advance human health and quality of life by helping pharmacists expand the frontiers of their practice.

Overview

The Career Advancement Certificate Program is designed to help a new or experienced practitioner advance his/her career as a clinician. The program will help participants establish credible interprofessional and patient-centered roles, extend their clinical practices through mentoring and precepting, and employ practical strategies to enhance their professional standing and recognition. Elective opportunities allow participants to explore several related goals including developing a business plan, establishing leadership skill, consulting, precepting students and trainees in selected practice settings, and developing telemedicine. New clinical practitioners with residency training (or equivalent experience) who practice in any professional setting will benefit from this program, devised as a further step in clinical development beyond specialty board certification. It is anticipated that most participants will be involved in, or planning to pursue, preceptorship of students and/or residents.

Certificate Requirements

Career Advancement program participants must complete required reading, 18.0 hours of required modules and 10.0 hours of electives. Participants must attend the Career Advancement Primer prior to receiving Academy credit for any other required modules. Modules 1, 2, and 3, may be taken in any order following this prerequisite requirement. In addition to completing the 18.0 hours of required modules and 10.0 hours of elective modules, each participant must develop and maintain an online electronic portfolio via the online system developed and maintained by ACCP.

Required Reading

To purchase required and recommended textbooks, visit the ACCP Bookstore.

Course Work

Prerequisite Module: Career Advancement Primer (6.0 CPE Hours)
Outcomes:

  • Developing a personal strategic plan for your advancement as a clinician
  • Establishing your role in team and collaborative patient care environments
  • Planning to demonstrate the value of your clinical activities
  • Facilitating your own professional development
Participants will be asked to complete a pre-assignment, which includes gathering documents from his or her institution and uploading to the Academy’s online portfolio system.

Required Module No. 1: Extending Your Practice by Mentoring and Precepting (4.0 CPE Hours)
Outcomes:

  • Discuss responsibilities and rewards for mentoring pharmacy students, residents, and other health care professionals in practice training.
  • Describe characteristics of exemplary preceptors and experiential learning environments in preparation for developing a pharmacy practice experience.
  • Identify effective learning activities specific to your clinical service that would reinforce responsible clinical practice roles.
  • Foster interprofessional team work in patient care activities and develop activities that enhance these relationships.
  • Identify successful approaches to balancing delegation and supervision of health care professional trainees on clinical rotations.
  • Identify strategies to instill professionalism in student’s and resident’s interactions with patients and other health care practitioners.
  • Identify mentor qualities and strategies to successfully establish a personal mentor.
  • Identify ways to deal with difficult students and residents in challenging learning environments.

Required Module No. 2: Establishing Interprofessional and Patient-Centered Roles (4.0 CPE Hours)
Outcomes:

  • List key stakeholders with an impact on your patient care roles.
  • Communicate effectively with organizational leaders (e.g., Chief of Staff, Chair of Pharmacy, and Therapeutics committee members; key specialists).
  • Establish a rapport with other health care providers.
  • Present arguments persuasively.
  • Earn credibility through your clinical expertise and professional service.
  • Communicate effectively and empathetically with patients.
  • Establish rapport with patients and caregivers.
  • Serve as a patient advocate.
  • Integrate cultural competence in daily practice and interactions.

Required Module No. 3: Clinical Career Advancement (4.0 CPE Hours)
Outcomes:

  • Revise your personal strategic plan for career advancement strategically and systematically.
  • Identify key elements of winning presentations to diverse audiences.
  • Implement strategies for effective scholarship and publication.
  • Identify ways to network and collaborate with other clinicians in your specialty or subspecialty.
  • Discuss the benefits of active participation in professional societies.
  • Achieve recognition within your specialty or subspecialty.
  • Identify strategies to establish a mentoring relationship that facilitates career advancement.

Elective Modules

The purpose of the elective modules is to allow participants to address specific practice advancement issues and challenges, and to apply them to their own environment. Examples of electives previously offered are: Clinical Career Advancement: So You Want to Be a Consultant?; Establishing Clinical Credibility: Making Friends and Winning Over Enemies; Developing a Business Practice Plan; Establishing a Collaborative Clinical Practice Agreement. The Career Advancement Certificate Program requires the completion of 10.0 hours of elective modules. Each elective module provides 2.0 hours of elective credit that can be applied towards the certificate.

Portfolio

Completion of assigned activities will be required within 6 months of taking the module and prior to participating in the next module. Advancement in and achievement of prespecified professional goals should be evident at program completion. The electronic portfolio will serve as the guiding and monitoring tool for professional advancement over the course of the certificate program.

Enrollment and Program Costs

To apply for the ACCP Career Advancement Certificate Program, apply online or download the application form. Fees for the ACCP Career Advancement Certificate Program have been established with today's institutional budget in mind. A one-time application fee of $150 (to offset expenses for online portfolio maintenance) will be charged upon enrollment in the certificate program.

Questions? Visit the FAQs page or contact Kathy Lemons or Zangi Miti.