ACCP will release an updated edition of Clinical Pharmacy in the United States: Transformation of a Profession at the Annual Meeting, October 26–29, in New York City. The three authors – Robert M. Elenbaas, Pharm.D., FCCP; Dennis B. Worthen, Ph.D.; and C. Edwin Webb, Pharm.D., MPH, FCCP – will be on hand to sign copies of the book in the ACCP Bookstore.

This comprehensive book traces the history of clinical pharmacy dating back to 1900. A feature called “Pharmacy’s Transformational Timeline” highlights milestones in education and practice, legislation, and research that have moved the profession forward. Accompanying this step-by-step chronicle of clinical pharmacy’s progress is a summary of the broader culture, including significant events and people in entertainment, government, sports, and technology.

First-person essays called “Reflections on Clinical Pharmacy” document advances in the profession from a unique perspective. Readers will learn, from those who were there, about the founding of ACCP and BPS, the development of total parenteral nutrition, the evolution of pharmacogenetics into clinical practice, and other events that have affected the profession.

Although the book is not a history of ACCP per se, the College’s evolution is a key part of the story of clinical pharmacy. “In 1979, ACCP was a fledgling organization of 20-some clinical pharmacists whose physical home was a cubby in the mailroom of the UMKC School of Medicine,” Elenbaas said. “It is now a sophisticated, multifaceted organization with a membership that should soon exceed 20,000.”

Ten years after publication of the first edition, the new edition covers recent events such as the increase in pharmacy graduates, advocacy efforts to recognize pharmacists as health care providers, and the challenge of drug shortages. An updated chapter titled “Transformation of a Profession” examines the expansion of the profession in recent years and the effects of legislation, specialization, and other forces that have shaped its growth and evolution.

In closing, a chapter by William Zellmer, BSPharm, MPH, looks at what the future may hold for the profession. Titled “Pharmacy’s Future: Bright or Bleak?”, it presents a view that may challenge readers to consider that progress is not necessarily inevitable.

Writing the book gave the authors a chance to reflect on how far clinical pharmacy has come and what it took to get there. “I was surprised by the sheer volume of potential ‘events’ that were evaluated to comprise the story of clinical pharmacy’s development for potential capture in (now) both editions of the book,” Webb said. He continues:

It is truly a story of thousands of contributions of thousands of people along the (continuing) road of transformation. Even though I have lived almost all of the story personally beginning in the early ’70s, I learned so very much from the process of working on the book.

The book will be available in print and online as a PDF, both in full color throughout, and will be on sale in the ACCP Bookstore. Book signings will take place Saturday, October 26, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and Sunday, October 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.