From the Desk of the ACCP President

June 09, 2023
Elizabeth Farrington, Pharm.D., FCCP, FCCM, FPPA, BCPS, BCNSP, BCPPS

Mentoring

Mentoring is defined differently depending on the situation. However, the most succinct definition of mentoring involves sharing one’s knowledge, skills, and experience to help another person progress toward their goals. For many pharmacists, the act of mentoring typically involves pharmacy students and residents. This is especially true this time of year when student mentees move on to pharmacy residencies and resident mentees enter a PGY2 residency or begin their first job. Many of us are currently receiving emails with requests to volunteer as mentors for the next crop of students and residents.

However, we often need mentoring at later stages of our careers as well. Within ACCP, numerous mentoring activities are occurring within the Practice and Research Networks (PRNs). Committee chairs mentor future chairs and PRN officers mentor those who will follow them. There are PRN mentor-mentee programs designed to match individuals with common interests and experiences. Individuals may also be mentored when serving as members of ACCP committees and task forces. Last year, ACCP admitted its first class of members to the ACCP Professional Leadership Development (APLD) program. This year-long program is designed to prepare participants for service as leaders within ACCP as well as the profession at-large. Each participant is paired with a mentor for the 1-year experience. Applications for the APLD program are accepted annually from April 1 to June 1.

Mentoring establishes a learning relationship, usually focused on long-term career development. The primary purpose of mentoring is to foster personal growth by developing relevant skills, knowledge, and mutual understanding. The ACCP Foundation is piloting a new career advancement program, the Immersive Mentored Skill Development Program (IMMERSE). The purpose of IMMERSE is to fund and facilitate focused opportunities for full members of ACCP to acquire new skills that will expand and/or enhance their clinical practice or research pursuits. During the 2023 pilot project, the ACCP Foundation will select three PRNs by lottery to co-lead IMMERSE programs for PRN members. If your PRN is chosen to participate, there will be a call for mentors, and it will be critically important for PRN members to volunteer to serve in this role. Do you have a unique practice or research skill that you could teach to others? As a health care professional, regardless of what stage you are at in your career, it is also important to recognize when you could benefit from mentoring. If you are a PRN member and hope to be a mentee, reach out to your fellow PRN members and encourage them to put their names forward as mentors.

Each of the IMMERSE experiences offered during the pilot will be eligible to receive up to $8000 in support from the Foundation. The mentor’s institution is eligible for up to $4000 of support, and the participant trainee is eligible for up to $4000 to help defray the costs of participation. Examples of participation costs may include supplies, transportation, lodging, and meal costs associated with the experience. IMMERSE experiences may vary in length from a minimum of 5 days to a maximum of 4 weeks in-person with or without supplemental on-demand learning modules/online components. Program experiences must be completed by September 30, 2024.

Both the APLD and the IMMERSE are unique programs offered by ACCP. Each program was developed according to feedback received from ACCP members as part of the College’s ongoing strategic planning.