Each of us has faced unique challenges over the past year, both personally and professionally, as our nation has experienced the ravages of an infectious disease pandemic, the devastation of national disasters, and the grim reality of persistent systemic racism. The courage, resilience, persistence, and innovation required to address these events were evident in the 2020 professional commitments highlighted across the ACCP membership. Our members contributed to the NIH COVID-19 guidelines, optimized medication therapy across spectrums of practice, created access models for vaccines, redesigned education and health care communication models, and volunteered across the nation to support those in need. Flexibility, determination, and intentionality were required daily. Each of us changed in 2020. Now, in 2021, our journey begins in the quest to determine how we will meet the challenges ahead by becoming more emboldened in our actions, digging into personal and professional zones of discomfort, and emerging stronger from this point forward.
Advocating for and leading changes to build health equity and overcome the impact of racism are among our responsibilities as clinical pharmacists. We need skills to begin conversations that target practices, policies, and paradigms contributing to persistent disparities across races, ages, gender identities, and disabilities. We are fortunate to have ACCP as a component of our support system sharing this journey. The tenacity inherent in the ACCP leadership and staff has demonstrated the power of shared values within our organization in our response to racial injustices, gender inequities, and harassment.
During my next year of service as ACCP president, our boards, committees, programs, and members will seek to establish a shared vision to embrace diversity and allow us to grow into inclusive leaders. Our direction will be guided by crucial conversations. Members can expect to see leadership-setting examples and the sharing of them and the examination of publications and policies related to health disparities. The 2020 ACCP Annual Meeting set the stage as Dr. Lloyd B. Minor gave the keynote address, “Precision Health and Leadership During a Pandemic.” His presentation reminded us of the disproportionate impact of COVID on BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color). The discouraging revelation of zip code association with COVID-related recovery and death resonated with many of us as a critical call for change.
Steps to heal broken systems will require individual determination to think differently, listen differently, and teach, practice, and design research differently. How encouraging it was to hear the remarkable example of methodology improving health outcomes provided by Dr. Edith Nutescu’s Therapeutic Frontiers Award Lecture! Her research using pharmacy-centric interventions and models of care has changed anticoagulation outcomes in minority populations. Dean Marie Chisholm-Burns, recipient of the Russell R. Miller Award, likewise provided inspiring insights and motivation in her acceptance remarks. These individual ACCP members, leading by example, have demonstrated that much is still yet to be done on this shared journey. Importantly, however, it CAN be done! Reflecting on each person’s adaptability to meet the unprecedented challenges of 2020, it is clear that we can overcome barriers. Let’s vow to shift paradigms within education, practice, and research to bring diversity and inclusion to the forefront.
How can we become inclusive leaders, bridge diversity gaps, and build health equity in ourselves and our own programs? First, we must recognize and accept that the time for action is now. ACCP’s new strategic plan establishes criteria for measuring our progress as we journey toward this goal. The College will be working to support the development of inclusive leadership skills, modeling responsible examination of unconscious bias, and emphasizing the importance of adhering to an organizational code of conduct – all of which are steps designed to combat racism, harassment, and discrimination.
It is my privilege to serve ACCP and each of you as president during this pivotal time. During my president-elect year, President Brian Erstad and Past President Suzanne Nesbit served as models of humility and authenticity. It was an honor to avail myself of their mentorship, along with that provided by the other members of the Board of Regents. Through our work together, I observed firsthand a willingness to tackle complex, unexpected issues affecting our profession and ACCP members. Together with the Board of Regents, it is clear that the ACCP Foundation Board of Trustees, the Pharmacotherapy Publications Board of Directors, and the ACCP staff share a vision that is to be pursued through implementation of the new strategic plan.
I have always been proud to be a member of ACCP, and my career has been transformed by leaders in this organization. I encourage each of you to use these valuable mentors and begin to identify how we will build on their legacy as we adopt strategies to expand diversity across our organization. This year, we stand united as clinical pharmacists accepting responsibility to help achieve health equity as a right for all people.
As your president, I am confident that meaningful partnerships will strengthen us and improve our perspective on many issues. As journeyers on this road, we can expect to encounter unfamiliar territory, histories of injustice, and other unknown challenges. In 2020, we found strength and learned much about ourselves – we are no longer unaware of the public health issue inherent in systemic racism. We can change the dialogue. We can help prepare tomorrow’s clinical pharmacists across diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and experiences to become inclusive leaders. Let’s do this!