Back row, left to right: John Devlin, David Feola, Dan Witt, John Cleary, Trevor McKibbin, Gary Cochran, Doug Steinke. Third row: Paul Beringer, Gene Morse, Kari Olson, Reggie Frye, Jacque Marinac, Barry Carter, Michael Reed. Second row: Nathan Weiderhold, Duska Franic, Marlene Egger, Leon Cosler, Gary Yee, Scott Strassels, Chris Frei. First row: Jennfier Le, Julie Wright, Katie Packard, Sheila Botts, Elizabeth Hermsen, Sandra Benavides. Not pictured: Courtney Fletcher, Jill Kolesar, Greg Stoddard

Eighteen investigator participants and 14 mentors teamed up for 1 week of intensive proposal development and hard work at the University of Utah on June 12–18, 2008. Central to the FIT Program were mentored Group Proposal Sessions. In these small group discussions, led by two faculty mentors and attended by three investigators, each investigator presented his/her work in detail to the group. By participating in these sessions, combined with lectures and small group and panel discussions, the investigators made significant progress in retooling their proposals by week’s end. In addition, each participant formulated a plan and timeline for the submission of his/her proposal upon return to the home institution. As part of the program, participants were asked to reflect on their experiences during the week.

One recurrent theme emerged from the reflections: the FIT Program is not for the fainthearted. One participant noted, “On day 1 it was emphasized, ‘Leave your ego at the door’; good advice. The mentors were colleagues and helpers and not just people to ask for justifications for everything. I learned to be open about opinions and accept new ideas. I worked hard on my proposal, which changed significantly for the better.” Another participant wrote, “At almost every conference, seminar, or CE session that I have attended, there have been a handful of presentations that I got nothing out of. I can honestly say I got something out of every component of this training. Coming from an institution not known for its research, I had no idea there were so many NIH-funded pharmacist investigators—it was very inspiring. I appreciated the enthusiasm of the faculty and their willingness to provide so much feedback.”

Others chose to focus on the relationships they developed while looking toward the future: “I know that in 10–15 years, my classmates will be the next FIT faculty. That’s pretty exciting. I look forward to seeing my small group’s name in print and hearing about the great things it is doing.” Yet another participant commented, “Despite the brief time together, I definitely started to feel a bit like a family. The mentors seemed to genuinely want the trainees to succeed, and the trainees seemed to want to make the mentors proud of them. I can’t wait to hear the celebrations when the trainees are successful (hopefully including myself) and then rush to call their mentors to express their excitement and gratitude. Maybe we should all get together again for a 3- to 5-year reunion.”

Listed below are this year’s program participants, “the ACCP FIT Class of 2008.”

• Sandra Benavides, Pharm.D.; University of Southern Florida College of Pharmacy
• Paul M. Beringer, Pharm.D.; University of Southern California School of Pharmacy
• Sheila R. Botts, Pharm.D.; University of Kentucky
• Gary L. Cochran, Pharm.D., S.M., B.S., University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Leon E. Cosler, Ph.D., M.S.Pharm. Administration, B.S.Pharm.; Albany College of Pharmacy
• John W. Devlin, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS; Northeastern University
• Duska M. Franic, Pharm.D., Ph.D., B.Pharm.; University of Georgia
• Christopher R. Frei, Pharm.D., M.S.; University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
• Elizabeth Hermsen, Pharm.D., M.B.A.; University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Jennifer Le, Pharm.D., BCPS; Western University
• David J. Feola, Pharm.D., Ph.D.; University of Kentucky
• Trevor McKibbin, Pharm.D., M.S.; University of Tennessee
• Kari L. Olson, Pharm.D., B.S.Pharm., BCPS; Kaiser Permanente, Colorado
• Kathleen A. Packard, Pharm.D., M.S.; Creighton University
• Douglas T. Steinke, Ph.D., M.S., B.S.Pharm.; University of Kentucky
• Scott Strassels, Pharm.D., Ph.D.; University of Texas at Austin
• Nathan P. Wiederhold, Pharm.D.; University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
• Daniel M. Witt, Pharm.D.; Kaiser Permanente, Colorado

The 2009 ACCP FIT Program will be held July 11–16, 2009, at the University of Utah. Check the Web site for new program and 2009 application information.