Farrington

The path to leadership in ACCP differs for every member. Mine began with Practice and Research Network (PRN) leadership. I had the opportunity to be a member of ACCP when the PRNs were started and served as the Pediatrics PRN chair for the first 2 years of its existence. ACCP’s PRNs are an excellent way to volunteer your time and develop the skills necessary to pursue future leadership opportunities. Leadership development options are available for students, residents, and associate/full members who become involved in the PRNs.

Student and Resident Opportunities: Many PRNs have openings for student and resident members on their committees. Serving as an active committee member increases recognition of your contributions and can be invaluable when seeking a residency position or future job opportunity. For example, a letter of recommendation from a PRN committee chair documenting your leadership skills, work ethic, or ability to multitask can be key to your pathway toward residency programs and employers.

Many PRNs also offer student and resident travel awards for students and residents who have abstracts accepted for presentation at an ACCP meeting. Presenting a poster at an ACCP meeting can help them stand out from other residency candidates. If your PRN does not offer a student or resident travel award, approach its leadership team and ask them to consider this.

Students can apply and be appointed to the National Student Network Advisory Committee and residents to the Resident Advisory Committee. If appointed to one of these ACCP national committees, the student receives complimentary registration to the ACCP Annual Meeting and can also apply for a travel grant. All PRNs can offer a travel award for any student or resident member appointed to one of ACCP’s committees to help offset the cost of attending the Annual Meeting. This travel award will not be awarded every year but only in a year when a student or resident member qualifies.

It is the responsibility of experienced ACCP members to mentor future generations of clinical pharmacists. I challenge each ACCP PRN member to:

1. Suggest to students and residents that they submit their research to an ACCP meeting or the ACCP Virtual Poster Symposium
2. Encourage students and residents to join ACCP and get involved in any PRNs that match their career goals. If students and residents are interested in your professional focus and will be at an ACCP meeting, make sure they attend your PRN’s business meeting and networking forum – then introduce them to other members at the PRN meeting and make them feel welcome.
3. Encourage students and residents to volunteer for a committee that matches their skill set and interests

Member Opportunities: Our role is to mentor not only students and residents, but also individual PRN members. As a PRN chair, I reached out to members in whom I saw leadership potential and encouraged them to volunteer as a committee chair or co-chair and/or put their name forward for an elected PRN leadership position. For many of our colleagues, a vote of confidence in their abilities and potential gives them the assurance needed to pursue a leadership position. If you are a committee chair, encourage active members to volunteer as a co-chair. Similarly, PRN chairs should encourage committee chairs who are completing their terms to pursue a PRN officer position by submitting their name to the PRN’s nominations committee.

You needn’t be in a leadership position to mentor your colleagues. Do you know an ACCP member who practices in your specialty area but is not a member of your PRN? Reach out to them and encourage them to join the PRN. If appropriate, encourage them to volunteer for a PRN committee. As a PRN member, if you have been impressed by the leadership potential of one of your colleagues, share with them your impressions and encourage them to consider running for ACCP national office – a position on the Board of Regents or the Foundation Board of Trustees. Suggest they self-nominate for national office, or ask if you can nominate them. The annual nominations deadline for ACCP national office is November 30 each year.

Additional ways the PRNs can mentor their members is to offer scholarships to support those who are accepted to the FIT or MeRIT program. A scholarship need not cover the complete cost of these programs, but only defray a portion of the expenses. Such scholarships will only be awarded when a well-qualified member applies for support.

Each PRN plans an educational program for the ACCP Annual Meeting or Global Conference. Each PRN’s education committee should try to identify a qualified younger/rising member of the PRN to participate in this programming. It is my hope that PRNs won’t choose an entire panel of seasoned members, but instead try to develop their younger members to assume these roles.

ACCP is sometimes approached by external organizations to provide a member with expertise in a specialized area. Serving as an active member of a PRN makes it more likely that colleagues will recognize your expertise.

I have only introduced the beginning of opportunities afforded PRN members. This year’s ACCP Member Relations Committee will be compiling PRN best practices. If you are a PRN chair, when you are approached to help the committee collect data relevant to its charge, please participate – and consult with past PRN chairs, as needed. These data should help each PRN optimize its activities to best serve its members. I want to thank each of you for being an ACCP member and a PRN member.