I am honored to be a recipient of the ASHP Student Leadership Award. The Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI) is an excellent resource for both practicing pharmacists and students, because it provides us with a model for the profession that will not be soon outdated. It provides us with insight into the direction in which pharmacy is headed. Here is my essay that explains the importance of increasing awareness of the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative among my student colleagues.
As a student, it is easy to feel disconnected from the profession. This is why I believe that it is so important to be involved in professional organizations. It helps us as student pharmacists to see the challenges that we are currently facing and helps us to see the future of pharmacy. Being an active member of many organizations would help aid in increasing awareness of the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative to my student colleagues. It would allow me the opportunity to create an event to discuss the PPMI with my fellow colleagues.
It is crucial for us as students to be familiar with the health care environment we will be entering. There are many changes in health care, and we must be aware that the environment that we will enter after graduation will be much different that it is today.
One of the best ways to ensure positive patient outcomes is to allow the pharmacist to become providers. I cannot think of a better way to ensure positive patient outcomes than by having a pharmacist be responsible for his or her patients. I recognize the importance of a team based initiative to health care; utilizing each person’s strengths to work towards a common goal. By requiring a higher level of knowledge from pharmacy technicians it can allow the pharmacists to focus on patient care.
At my college of pharmacy we have found that lunch and learn events have the best response. It is an opportunity for both P1 and P2 students on our Big Rapids campus to meet up together to gain knowledge in some area over lunch. I believe that this same idea would work best to increase awareness on the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative. I would invite clinical faculty members to discuss the model. During the presentation, my peers would see how this model relates to us, and from that, recognize its importance. As a leader in the classroom, I would be able to direct questions to the presenters to help students understand the initiative. A bulletin board in the College of Pharmacy would be a good supplemental to the lunch and learn event. In addition, I believe that the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative could be discussed in our second year hospital pharmacy skills lab. Lastly, it is important to inspire my fellow colleagues; to be passionate about providing the highest level of care for our patients. By inspiring us as students we will continue to help evolve the profession of pharmacy when the ever changing world of health care demands it.