During the 2005-2006 year the Academic Sections Coordinating Committee (ASCC) continued to build on the successful groundwork laid in previous years. There were three specific areas where the committee participated in fine-tuning various facets of their work and the work of the Association. First, during its July 2005 meeting, the ASCC modified the process for reviewing poster abstract submissions in order to make better use of the volunteer reviewers appointed by section chairs. Second, the leadership of the sections met in April to orient incoming leaders so they will be ready to assume leadership at the upcoming July meeting. Finally, the section leadership provided feedback to the Policy committee concerning their proposal for structure and governance of AACP.
ANNUAL PROGRAM PLANNINGSince the ASCC represents the leadership of the academic sections, its most visible functions have to do with program planning. This section of the report will briefly address several areas of this key component of the committee's work, but let us begin with the area that the committee refined at the beginning of the year, the abstract review process.
ABSTRACT REVIEWSReviewing abstracts submitted for the annual meeting is one of the ASCC's more labor intensive responsibilities. Overall, the numbers of abstracts submitted continued to increase as seen in tbl1.
Over the past few years, the committee has tried assigning abstracts using different methods in an attempt to streamline the process both for the volunteer reviewers and for AACP staff. In recent years, two different groups have reviewed poster abstracts: section chair-appointed review panels and the ASCC. The author categorized the abstracts during the submission process either as discipline-specific or as general. With the advent of the general category called Educational Development & Innovations, an increasing proportion of abstracts were designated in the general category with fewer abstracts assigned each year to the section chair-appointed review panels. This posed a man-power problem because the section chair-appointed review panel members were not being fully utilized and because the eight members of the ASCC were responsible for reviewing large numbers of abstracts.
This year the ASCC assigned all abstracts for review based on the section membership of each poster's first author. This procedure met the goal of better utilizing the volunteer reviewers from the sections, but the process still needs further examination. There was at least one occurrence of confusion about whether or not to approve an abstract, based on the fact that the poster did not directly deal with subject matter of the reviewer's section. This likely happened because every AACP member is required to join a section, but many faculty members fill multiple roles within their schools. Faculty may present scholarly activity conducted within the scope of any of their many roles. For example, a member of the Chemistry Section might submit an abstract for a poster on a project to implement a new honor code, which he did in his role as associate dean for student affairs. The Chemistry Section's reviewers may not feel that they are the appropriate group to review this type of poster or that it is an appropriate topic for a poster of the Chemistry Section. The 2006-07 ASCC will need to examine this procedure to make adjustments as they see fit. There is another issue that needs to be considered next year. Assigning the abstracts for review by section affiliation of the first author probably means that a larger section will have a greater number of members who submit abstracts than a smaller section. There is some evidence of this in the fact that there were over 200 abstracts submitted to the Pharmacy Practice Section in 2005-06. Therefore, if the same method of assigning abstracts for review is followed next year, then chairs of larger sections, such as Pharmacy Practice, will need to appoint more people to their abstract review panels.
SECTION PROGRAM PLANNINGSeveral of the Reports from the Sections below describe specific aspects of the program planning for the 2006 annual meeting. An exciting component of the programming is the number of sessions of collaborative programming (five), which involve various combinations of five sections and five special interest groups.
TEACHERS SEMINARThis year's Teachers Seminar, which will be offered on the Saturday before the annual meeting, is entitled “Teaching and Assessing Communication Skills across the Curriculum.” Gregory Makoul, Ph.D., of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine will give the keynote address, while Carole Kimberlin, Ph.D., of the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, will present the closing session. Between these two presentations will be two repeating, concurrent breakout sessions covering different topics addressing the teaching, learning and assessment of communication skills.
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONSInitiated at the 2002 meeting, round table discussion sessions have been a very successful and well attended part of the annual meeting. tbl2 includes a complete list of sessions and facilitators for the 2006 meeting. Each round table will receive a brief form to provide feedback on the session, as well as to provide information on specific issues or topics discussed. The ASCC Chair will compile this information and provide it to the Board as a means of communicating to the Board some of the issues and concerns of the membership.
LEADERSHIP TRAININGFinally, in April the section leaders, including the chair-elect designates who will assume their positions in July 2006, met together at the Leadership Retreat. First, the section leaders and the Board heard a preliminary report of the Bylaws and Policy Development Committee concerning recommendations for restructuring the organization of the Association. The group then provided feedback to the committee, which it considered in preparation of its report for the July meeting. Next, the section leaders met together to orient newly elected leaders to their positions and to discuss plans for the various sections during the 2006-07 year.
REPORTS FROM THE SECTIONSRobert P. Soltis, Chair
Julianna E. Szilagyi, Immediate Past Chair
Edward Fisher, Secretary
Programming for 2006 Annual Meeting.Members of the programming committees from Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Pharmacy Practice have met several times to discuss content and create materials for the joint session titled “Reciprocal Integration of Basic and Clinical Sciences Using Longitudinal Cases.” Development of the other sessions for Biological Sciences Section has continued, as well.
New Investigators Program.Three panels of reviewers were formed to review the applications for the New Investigators Program. A combination of recent awardees and senior faculty members has been identified.
Animal Pharmacodynamics Panel
Edward Soltis, Ph.D. - Medical University of South Carolina (Chair)
Bruce Waldrop, Ph.D. - Samford University
Stephen A. O'Barr, Ph.D. - Western University of Health Sciences
Biotechnology/Molecular Biology Panel
Dan Brazeau, Ph.D. - University at Buffalo (Chair)
John C. Livesey, Ph.D. – University of the Pacific
Marcos A. Oliveira, Ph.D. - University of the Incarnate Word
Pharmacology/Toxicology Panel
William Cacini, Ph.D. - University of Cincinnati (Chair)
Theresa Filtz, Ph.D. - Oregon State University
Karim A. Alkadhi, Ph.D. - University of Houston
Review Coordinator
Robert Soltis, Ph.D. - Drake University
Discussions with members of the section indicate no clear consensus regarding the proposal to combine all of the science sections into one section. More information and discussion with the other sections regarding the implications are needed.
Programming for 2007 Annual Meeting.Initial discussions regarding topics for the 2007 Annual Meeting have included identifying effective models and practices for mentoring faculty.
ChemistryJeffrey J. Christoff, Chair
Elmer J. Gentry, Chair-elect
Edward B. Roche, Immediate Past Chair
Robert L. Chapman, Secretary
Report on Activities of Chemistry Section CommitteesCommunications
Jeff Christoff (Ohio Northern - Chair)
Recommendations for revisions to the section website will be discussed during the section's business meeting.
Programming
Elmer Gentry (MWU - Glendale - Chair)
Programming for the San Diego meeting has been finalized.
Nominations
Marc Harrold (Duquesne - Chair)
Candidates for the next section election have been identified and will be reported at the section's business meeting in San Diego.
Awards
Michael Crider (Southern Illinois – Chair)
No new activities since the January report.
Resolutions
Robert Riggs (Samford - Chair)
The resolutions committee has not met or taken any action.
Membership
Bob Chapman (Midwestern - Chicago - Chair)
An electronic membership survey seeking member feedback regarding issues that attract and retain section membership is available for members to respond until June 30th. The results of the survey will be reported during the section's business meeting in San Diego.
Mentoring
Robin Zavod (Midwestern - Chicago - Chair)
Information regarding various mentoring programs and mentoring strategies are being obtained for continued committee studies and activities in 2006-07.
Strategic Planning
Pat Callery (West Virginia - Chair)
The Committee convened via conference call in April to specifically review the need to update the section's strategic plan in regard to the recent CAPE and ACPE documents. A preliminary report to the section will occur in San Diego. Additional activities will be required in 2006-07.
Areas of concern expressed or noted by members of the Chemistry Section regarding AACP or pharmacy education.Several members have expressed that they do not want the basic sciences sections of AACP to be combined into one large section. The sections need to work together on programming issues, but need to remain as separate academic sections.
Several members have suggested that all sections should have someone accountable to the section to report on the section-specific language of the 2004 CAPE outcomes.
The Chemistry Section has always been poorly represented at annual meetings. The registration cost (at least compared to ACS meetings) is a factor to some extent. Rarely does someone from a major research university attend. There is simply not enough substance in the annual meeting programming to justify the expenses for many of those who decide not to attend the meeting.
Chemistry Section Chair Elect Initiatives for 2006-07Elmer Gentry (MWU – Glendale, Chair Elect)
Evaluation of discipline specific outcomes and increasing section membership.
Continuing and Professional EducationVirginia Scott, Chair
Anita Young, Chair-elect
Nancy Fjortoft, Immediate Past Chair
Linda L. Norton, Secretary
The Continuing Pharmacy Education (CPE) Section had nine goals for the year of 2005-06. These were the following: 1) identify the role of the Section and Schools/Colleges of Pharmacy in the implementation of continuing profession development (CPD) if adopted as a method of life long learning in the US; 2) develop a toolbox of forms and/or material that will be available for use by continuing education (CE) Administrators in Schools/Colleges of Pharmacy; 3) identify the role of Schools/Colleges in CE; 4) identify a listing of possible grant agencies and/or funding sources; 5) identify ways to increase scholarly activity from Section members; 6) continue to enhance communication with Section members via list serve, web site, and newsletter; 7) continue to work with AACP to establish membership in multiple sections and having representation on the ACPE Board of Directors; 8) discuss with AACP how the section can be utilized for the teacher and/or leadership seminar at Annual Meetings; and 9) organize a social event at the annual meeting to foster mentoring and to welcome new members.
Either a standing committee or one of the two appointed Task Forces – CPD and CE in School/Colleges of Pharmacy addressed the above goals. Two of these goals focused on CPD which was also a topic being discussed by the Professional Affairs Committee of AACP. Two of our members, Cindi Koh-Knox and Carriann Richey served on the Professional Affairs Committee. Cindi was also Chair of the CPD Task Force. These appointments allowed continuity between the Section's discussions on the role in CPD while having Section input into discussions on AACP's involvement in CPD. Because of the interest in CPD, this will be a focus of the 2006 section program. The first session will discuss the role of CE providers and the CPD pilot project being conducted by five state pharmacy organizations in conjunction with the School/College of Pharmacy in their state. The second session will be a workshop on reflection, the first step in the CPD cycle. Officers are also working to organize a social event at the upcoming meeting in San Diego.
The Future Planning Committee developed a listing of how to apply for pharmaceutical companies’ educational grants. The list includes the requirements for applying for funding, deadlines, and the website address for the grant application if applicable. This list will be given to members at the 2006 Business Meeting and be available to other members upon request.
The Section continued to work with AACP to allow for dual membership in sections. Dual membership is currently being considered in the association's revised organization structure. These changes will be presented to the Association membership for comment at the 2006 annual meeting in San Diego. The AACP Board also requested nominations for appointees to the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Board. Section Chair Ginger Scott approached several CPE members and encouraged them to submit their name for this position. One member's name was submitted, but Dr. Heidi Harper was appointed. The Section will continue to encourage members to submit their name for future appointments since ACPE is not only the accrediting agency for the professional program but also continuing education programs.
The Task Force on CE in School/Colleges of Pharmacy was formed to discuss the role of CE in Schools/Colleges primarily due to the decrease in external funding for CE programming and the challenges faced by providers due to this decline in funding. The Task Force developed a list of current challenges for their CE program such as funding, signing of letters of agreement, and contracts. Members of the Task Force recommended that the Task Force be continued next year. This has been discussed with Incoming Chair Anita Young, and the Task Force will be continued for another year. The Future Planning committee also recommended to defer the launch of a toolbox to assist section members in CE programming until the items to be included could be refined.
Other activities completed by committees will be discussed briefly. The Resolution Committee reviewed and revised the CPE Section's Standing Rules of Procedures. These will be presented to the membership for a vote at the 2006 Business Meeting in San Diego. The Nominating Committee will present two names to the membership for 2007-08 Chair-Elect. The Special Committee on Communication posted a list of past CPE Presidents and Blockstein Awardees on the website and identified specific time lines for the release of announcements such as the Scholar in Residence Program and other nominations. The ACPE Liaison Committee continued to work with ACPE to address issues of mutual interest and the implementation of CPD by providers.
Libraries/Educational ResourcesRae Jesano, Chair
Gerri Wanserski, Chair-elect
Sharon Giovenale, Secretary
This year the section programming was done in conjunction with the PEP SIG, “How Can I Look It up without the Resources?” and with the SADS Section, “Medication Adherence, Cooperation and Cultural Competence: A Patient-based Approach”.
The editors of the Basic Resources List sent out 14 subject sections to committee members for updating. These have been updated by the subject section editors and will be sent out to all the Basic Resources Advisory Committee members for approval. The List editors plan to have an updated 2006 edition posted to the AACP website some time before the end of September.
The section was involved in making recommendations to the ACPE regarding Standard 29 of the newly adopted standards. The editors of the Basic Resources List sent recommendations concerning the wording of Guideline 29.1, which addresses the List's role in the selection of materials for library collections supporting pharmacy programs. The section also created an Ad Hoc committee to draft a letter to the ACPE stressing the importance of including the requirement that the librarian have a Master's degree. The final version of the standard and guidelines incorporate these suggestions.
The Awards committee revised the criteria and application forms for the Sewell Foundation Stipend to attend the meeting. The deadline for applying for stipends to attend this year's meeting was May 15.
PharmaceuticsStuart Feldman, Chair
Catherine A. White, Chair-elect
Raj G. Suryanarayanan, Immediate Past Chair
Karen M. Nagel, Secretary
Pharmaceutics Section activities since the last report focused on finalizing the program for the Annual Meeting. Programming for the meeting is as follows:
The Evolving Role of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Pharm.D. Curriculum: This program focuses on the evolving role of pharmaceutics, biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics in the Pharm.D. curriculum. New emerging trends in pharmacy that will need to be incorporated into the pharmaceutics curriculum over the next five years will be addressed.
Business Meeting.
Laboratory Exercises: Are they Necessary for the Education of Pharmacy Students? A focus on the importance of laboratory exercises as a supplement to didactic basic pharmaceutics, biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics courses. Cutting edge laboratory exercises and techniques and a discussion of the need for a traditional compounding laboratory will be presented.
Section officers took advantage of their being together at the April AACP Leadership Retreat to do intensive planning for the upcoming year.
Pharmacy PracticeAnne Y. Lin, Chair
Raylene M. Rospond, Chair-elect
Roger D. Lander, Immediate Past Chair
David W. Henry, Secretary
Abstract/NIP proposal reviews.Twenty-five section members reviewed a total of 204 abstracts submitted for the annual meeting. Nine members reviewed a total of 21 NIP proposals.
Programming.The following sessions were developed by the program committee for the annual meeting:
1. Sunday 1-2:30 PM Joint Session: Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Pharmacy Practice Sections: Reciprocal Integration of Basic and Clinical Sciences Using Longitudinal Cases.
2. Tuesday 10:30-12:00 PM: Clerkship Students: Enhancing Learning while Maximizing this Resource for Career Success and Balance.
The following session was presented at the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacy meeting on December 5, 2005.
1. Promoting Educational Skills in Pharmacy Residencies.
Committees.The CAPE Outcomes Committee continued its work from the previous year and is meeting the week of June 12, 2006 in Chicago to finalize its report.
The Strategic Planning Committee is being reviewed to determine its alignment with AACP strategic plan.
The Faculty Development Committee is developing a model program for new pharmacy practice faculty.
Kenneth W. Schafermeyer, Chair
David P. Zgarrick, Chair-elect
Robert L. McCarthy, Immediate Past Chair
Dana P. Hammer, Secretary
SAS Annual Meeting Program.Program Committee: David Zgarrick (Chair), Mary Gurney, Dana Hammer, Grace Marcellus, Kim Plake and Marion Slack.
Dr. Alexander Green from Harvard Medical School has agreed to speak about Cultural Competency during the section's first session. He is one of the creators of the PBS “World's Apart” series, which addresses the delivery of culturally competent health care, and will use videotape vignettes to lead discussions among the group. This will be a joint session with the Libraries & Educational Resources section, which plans to take a few minutes at the end of the program to talk about other resources that are available to teach about this topic.
The SAS Section will also conduct an educational session describing how faculty are teaching students about Medicare Part D. Shane Desselle (Duquesne) will describe how he has involved undergraduates in service work helping seniors with Medicare Part D. Patty Darbishshire (Purdue) will discuss her Medicare Part D elective and Bill Doucette (Iowa) will describe how he teaches the planning and evaluation of MTM Services.
SAS roundtable discussions will be held on Monday, July 10, and section members will be able to attend up to 3 of the following 10 sessions:
Cultural Competency - Barry Bleidt (Texas A&M – Kingsville)
Teaching Pharmacy Law - Joe Bonnarens (Wisconsin)
Spirituality in the Pharmacy Curriculum – Amy Broeseker (Samford)
Making Research Fun! – Karen Farris (Iowa)
Mentoring Pharmacy Students – Erin Holmes (Mississippi)
Improving Student Interest in Pharmacy Management Courses – Analdi Law (Western)
Practice-Based Research Networks – Earlene Lipowski (Florida)
Creating a Writing-Intensive Communications Skills Course – John Lonie (Long Island)
Service Learning – Luch Ngoh (Ferris State)
Educational Technology – Evan Robinson (Charleston)
The business session will be held on Monday afternoon, July 10.
Committee Activities Curriculum Committee.Syllabi Handbook. Nate Rickles (Northeastern) is leading a group that is continuing the Section's ongoing commitment to develop the electronic Handbook, which is a website with syllabi representing the various SAS courses taught in Pharm.D. programs. This on-line repository featuring a range of syllabi from SAS faculty will be a useful resource for members. Past committees that focused on this initiative made great strides in developing this repository. We wish to continue this progress and collect more syllabi to further develop this valuable resource. Information will include: title of course, number of credits, year student taught (assume 0-6 model), course format, name of primary instructor of record, year when the syllabus was created.
CAPE Outcomes.Marianne McCollum (Colorado) is leading a group that is comparing the proposed CAPE Outcomes and new ACPE guidelines to the SAS Model curriculum. This work will continue for another year.
NAPLEX.One of the recommendations from last year's Curriculum Committee was to work with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) to increase SAS-related topics in the NAPLEX, beginning with medication error and safety questions. The section will be working with NABP to try to bring this to fruition.
Curriculum Committee Members.Jean Carter (Chair), Judith Barr, Michael DeYoung, Wendy Duncan-Hewitt, Monina Lahoz, Marianne McCollum, Lori Morin, Nate Rickles, and Bernard Sorofman.
SAS Abstract Review Team.Caroline Gaither, Carole Kimberlin, Monica Holiday Goodman, Marion Slack, Ana Quinones, Peter Hurd, Jan Kavookjian, Ron Hadsall, and William Fassett reviewed the many poster abstracts submitted for this year's annual meeting.
New Investigator Program Review Panel.The following SAS Section Members volunteered to serve as reviewers for the New Investigator Program: Dong-Churl Suh (Rutgers), Jan Kavookjian (Auburn), Theresa Shirerman (Kansas), Shane Desselle (Duquesne) and Jean Carter (Montana). Good luck to all the SAS Section members who are applying for a NIP grant this year!