That’s what you do. Each of you make a difference through the work you do in your daily practice, furthering ACCP’s mission of achieving optimal patient outcomes related to drug therapy. Each of you, through your activities, participation, and volunteerism in ACCP and our PRNs—you make a difference.

There are myriad opportunities for PRN members to continue their involvement in ACCP activities, to continue making a difference. To all who volunteered for service on a committee or task force for the coming year, please accept my deepest gratitude. ACCP is in the enviable position of having many more passionate, dedicated volunteers than we can reasonably accommodate on committees and task forces, and I know that some members who volunteered for committee or task force service were not assigned. However, you can get involved and make a difference by many other mechanisms. Each PRN is in continued need of volunteers to serve as officers or otherwise contribute to your network through service on PRN subcommittees or other activities. Similarly, ACCP’s regional chapters are continually seeking volunteers for leadership positions. If you have not already done so, please consider volunteering for service as an officer in your PRN or chapter. Not only is participating as a member or chair of a committee or task force or as an officer in a PRN or chapter professionally rewarding, it also provides opportunities to achieve and attain important leadership growth, experience, and development. This, in turn, can lead to further leadership opportunities within ACCP, including consideration for the ballot for the Board of Regents or the Research Institute Board of Trustees. As a reminder, avenues are available from the College for all ACCP members to facilitate leadership training and skill development through the ACCP Academy’s Leadership and Management Certificate Program and to develop career advancement strategies through the ACCP Academy’s Clinical Practice Advancement Certificate Program.

Numerous other opportunities exist for members to contribute to ACCP’s mission—to make a difference. Please consider volunteering to serve as an abstract reviewer for Annual Meetings. We also need volunteers to serve as reviewers of students’ curricula vitae for the CV review service we offer to our student members. In addition, if you work at a school or college of pharmacy, you could volunteer to serve as a College of Pharmacy Faculty Liaison to the student members of ACCP at your campus. Similarly, if you are a student member of ACCP, you may wish to volunteer to be a College of Pharmacy Student Liaison. The College of Pharmacy Faculty and Student Liaisons at each campus work actively with one another to educate student pharmacists about the field of clinical pharmacy and provide information about ACCP initiatives and student programs. In addition, the College of Pharmacy Faculty Liaisons are responsible for assembling their teams for ACCP’s new “Clinical Pharmacy Challenge,” a team-based competition in which teams of three students compete against teams from other schools and colleges of pharmacy in a “quiz bowl”–type format. The inaugural Clinical Pharmacy Challenge debuts this month.

One relatively new and important avenue for PRN member involvement is ACCP’s Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN). The PBRN now includes more than 600 members, with representation from each of the 22 PRNs. A paper characterizing the PBRN was recently published (Pharmacotherapy 2010;30:264e–273e). The PBRN has initiated its first study, the Medication Error Detection, Amelioration, and Prevention (MEDAP) Study, the aim of which is to document clinical pharmacist interventions that help eliminate or reduce medication errors. Central institutional review board (IRB) approval, MEDAP-specific training, and human subjects’ protection training have been established for participants. The data collection period commenced August 5 and continues until November 5. I encourage all PRN members who are actively involved in direct patient care activities and/or who have access to a patient database for research purposes to join the PBRN, and I encourage you to participate in the MEDAP Study. Information for joining the PBRN and enrolling in the MEDAP Study can be found at the ACCP Research Institute’s Web site, http://www.accpri.org/.

Many opportunities and avenues exist for PRN members to be involved. The degree of desire by ACCP members to be actively involved in the organization is inspiring. Thanks to each of you for the difference that you make. My term as ACCP president ends next month, when I pass the baton to Dr. Bill Kehoe. It has been a distinct honor to serve as ACCP president. Thank you for having granted me this privilege. I look forward to continuing to work with all of you to advance ACCP’s mission and improve the care of our patients.