BCPPs desiring an evidence-based, in-depth review of contemporary issues in psychiatric pharmacy at the specialist level are the intended audience of this recertification activity. This activity is designed for BCPPs who are auditory and visual learners and/or who learn best from hands-on-learning and dialoguing with specialist faculty and colleagues.
Content
The Clinical Application Series is an application-based continuing pharmacy education (CPE) activity designed to advance the knowledge and improve competency of participants through the delivery of evidence-based presentations. The interactive presentations are delivered live over two days at the AAPP Annual Meeting and provide knowledge and tools to improve the comprehensive care of patients with mental health disorders.
An application-based CPE activity requires that participants apply the information learned. In an application-based CPE activity, the learning objectives are written at a higher level in order to assess the learner's ability to use the information that is learned, at the expected level of practice of Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacists. The examination for this product often features cases requiring that the participant apply the principles learned through the presentations.
The Clinical Application Series includes:
Online access to the recorded speakers' audio presentations synchronized with their slide presentations (presented live at AAPP 2025 on April 27 and April 28 in Salt Lake City, UT).
For pharmacists, 5 hours of ACPE credit and 5 hours of BCPP Recertification credit achieved by successfully completing the online AAPP recertification examination.
Access to the AAPP testing center with exam submission due on or before October 27, 2025.
Consider making these presentations part of your BPS Continuing Professional Development plan! Please refer to the BPS Psychiatric Pharmacy Content Outline to see how this activity may align.
Course Requirements
To satisfactorily complete the Clinical Application Series and receive 5 hours of BCPP Recertification and ACPE credit, candidates must meet the following requirements:
Abide by a confidentiality and honesty statement requiring individual completion of the Recertification education.
Complete an online assessment on or before the deadline of October 27, 2025.
Receive a passing score as determined by a panel of experts.
Completion of an activity evaluation form.
Partial credit is not available for individual topics within the programming; it is either all 5 hours of Clinical Application Series credit or none.
You will proceed through the following steps to satisfactorily complete this course:
Sign in (or create a FREE account).
Register for this course.
Complete the pre-test before starting the activity.
Review the full content of the activity and reflect upon its teachings.
Complete the post-test at the end of the activity no later than the closing activity date.
Complete the evaluation at the end of the activity.
If necessary, complete the post-test retest no later than the closing activity date.
Wait for the official review of exam questions within 4 weeks following the closing date.
Receive a passing grade (72%).
Provide the necessary details in your profile to ensure correct reporting by AAPP to CPE Monitor.
Credit is awarded in the calendar year the assessment is completed. AAPP reports continuing credit for ACPE (CPE Monitor) and BCPP Recertification (BPS) within days of successful exam completion.
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Michelle Geier, PharmD, BCPP, APh
Psychiatric Clinical Pharmacist
San Francisco Department of Public Health
San Francisco, CA
Michelle Geier is a psychiatric clinical pharmacist for San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH). She is currently deployed as a disaster service worker for SFDPH as the Substance Use Services Pharmacy Lead to address the local opioid overdose crisis. In her usual roll, she manages a caseload of psychiatric and substance use disorders clients under a collaborative practice agreement at a county mental health clinic that predominantly serves people experiencing homelessness on admission and dual diagnosis. She oversees substance use disorder clinical services at our county mental health and substance use disorders pharmacy that serves approximately 1200 people with opioid use disorder annually. She participates in multiple quality improvement committees for the health plan that is responsible for all Medicaid beneficiaries with a serious mental illness in San Francisco county. I serve as the Residency Program Director for our PGY2 in psychiatry.
Robert Hudak, MD
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Medical Director, Center for Obsessive Compulsive and related Disorders, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Pittsburgh, PA
Robert Hudak, MD is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He is currently the medical director of the Center for Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive and Anxiety Disorders at Western Psychiatric Hospital. He serves on the IOCDF Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters on OCD and is a co-author of ‘Handbook of Psychiatric Disorders in Adults in the Primary Care Setting” and is the co-chair of the Autism in OCD SIG for the IOCDF. He lectures on OCD in numerous settings both nationally and internationally.
Kayla Johnson, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP
Clinical Pharmacist Specialist
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN
Kayla Johnson, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP is currently a Clinical Pharmacist Specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who works within the specialty department and has a focus on medications within the neurology and psychiatry realms. Therapeutic areas of focus include movement disorders, neuromuscular disorders, ATTR amyloidosis, and autonomic dysfunction. She graduated from Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy and went on to complete a PGY1 Pharmacy Residency followed by a specialty PGY2 Psychiatric Pharmacy Residency. Kayla's varied background has allowed her to facilitate patient care in both the inpatient and outpatient settings in a variety of patient populations. This experience allows for her insight to the continuum of care for each patient to be the forethought when building standard operating procedures and developing pharmacist and technician roles.
Kayla’s current goals include advancing the role of the specialty pharmacist within a clinic space through the utilization of collaborative practice agreements. She has served in a variety of leadership positions within the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) since pharmacy school and is currently a member of the Educational Steering Committee within the ASHP Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners. She is also serving as of the Psychopharmacology Pearls Editorial Board for the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP). Kayla routinely engages in the education of pharmacy students/residents; additionally, she presents her research activities concerning the advancement of the pharmacist role and clinical aspects of patient care through a combination of conference posters and publications.
David Parra, PharmD, BCPS, FCCP, FAHA
VISN 8 PBM Clinical Pharmacy Program Manager in Cardiology & Anticoagulation
Veterans Health Administration
Dr. Parra received an undergraduate degree from Marquette University, and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Minnesota where he subsequently completed a two-year postdoctoral residency and fellowship in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy. Dr. Parra is a Fellow of the American Heart Association and American College of Clinical Pharmacy. He currently is the Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 PBM Clinical Pharmacy Program Manager and Academic Detailer in Cardiology and Anticoagulation and has a practice site at the West Palm Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center as a Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner in the Department of Cardiology. He is also a clinical associate professor within the Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.
Dr. Parra has presented research findings at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, European Society of Cardiology Congress, American Society of Hypertension, and other medical and pharmacy scientific forums. Dr. Parra served as co-chair of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions Pharmacology Sessions from 2010-2014, faculty of the ACC Core Curriculum 2016-2019, and a member of the American Heart Association’s Council on Clinical Cardiology Clinical Pharmacology Committee from 2017-2021. Dr. Parra assisted in the design and implementation of a pharmacist managed metabolic syndrome clinic in a mental health setting at his practice site. In addition, Dr. Parra has a significant interest in personalizing anti-hypertensive therapy utilizing impedance cardiography, biomarkers, and 24hr ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. He has several publications and presentations on the topic as well as being co-developer of an app (PRA and HTN) for smartphones to assist with this.
Damian Peterson, PharmD, BCPP, BCPS, APh
Psychiatric Clinical Pharmacist
San Francisco Department of Public Health
San Francisco, CA
Damian Peterson is a psychiatric clinical pharmacist for the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH). Four days of the week he travels between various supportive housing buildings outreaching clients and providing low-barrier psychiatric and substance use disorder treatment. His typical case load is about ~60 clients that he sees once per week, distributed between 20+ different buildings. One day per week he sees clients at a drop-in urgent care clinic that predominantly serves people experiencing homelessness.
Damian is also involved in many initiatives to improve substance use disorder care for clients in San Francisco. He serves as the buprenorphine subject matter expert for the cities coordinated overdose response team, maintains the buprenorphine treatment guidelines for the city, and helps to develop policies & procedures to improve the quality of care provided for opioid use disorder.
Ilse Wiechers, MD, MPP, MHS
Deputy Executive Director
Veterans Health Administration Office of Mental Health
Dr. Wiechers serves as Deputy Executive Director of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Mental Health (OMH) where she leads the operations of OMH and the timely development and implementation of policies and programs that ensure Veteran-centered, evidence-based and high-quality mental health services to over 2 million Veterans every year. She also leads OMH’s legislative policy and partnership work, engaging regularly with key Congressional and Veteran Service Organization stakeholders. She has been instrumental in the development of VHA’s portfolio of innovative mental health treatments including ketamine, esketamine, and psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Dr. Wiechers is a practicing and board-certified adult and geriatric psychiatrist with additional expertise in health policy and health services research serving on faculty at both UCSF and Yale School of Medicine. She provides direct clinical care for Veterans with late-life mood, anxiety and trauma-related disorders, teaches extensively, and collaborates in research.
Learning Objectives
Difficult to Treat Depression – Emerging Strategies
Describe difficult-to-treat depression (DTD) and how it can impact an individual’s treatment plan.
Evaluate treatment options for DTD including ketamine and/or esketamine.
Develop an evidence-based treatment plan for an individual with DTD.
Management of Tardive Dyskinesia with Vesicular Monoamine Transporter Type 2 (VMAT2) Inhibitors
Describe the pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of VMAT2 inhibitors.
Analyze evidence for VMAT2 inhibitors as a first-line treatment for tardive dyskinesia.
Formulate a comprehensive treatment plan for a patient with tardive dyskinesia.
Interprofessional Care Coordination: Crossroads Between the Heart and Mind
Provide rationale for implementation of integrated mental health and cardiology care.
Describe the role of each member of the interprofessional care team in treating patients with comorbid depression and cardiovascular disease.
Recommend a mental health screening and/or treatment plan for patients with depression and comorbid cardiovascular disease.
Out With the Old and In With the New: Removal of the X-Waiver and the Role of the Psychiatric Pharmacist
Describe the role of psychiatric pharmacists in improving access to buprenorphine for patients with opioid use disorder.
Apply the PRECEDE planning model to development of a psychiatric pharmacist practice managing opioid use disorder.
Use the PROCEED model to evaluate a new psychiatric pharmacist practice managing opioid use disorder.
OCD- New and Emerging Therapies and the Role of Glutamatergic Medications
Examine the evidence to support new and emerging therapies for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
Design a monitoring plan for individuals with OCD.
Recommend pharmacotherapy for individuals with OCD using pharmacologic algorithms.
Continuing Education Credit and Disclosures
Activity Dates:04/27/2025 - 10/27/2025 ACPE Contact Hours: 5 ACPE Numbers: 0284-0000-25-003-H01-P (Application), 0284-0000-25-004-H01-P (Application), 0284-0000-25-008-H01-P (Application), 0284-0000-25-010-H04-P (Application), 0284-0000-25-012-H01-P (Application) Nursing Credit Reminder: Note that ACPE credit is accepted for ANCC Certification Renewal and AANPCB advanced practice provider content. For specific questions related to your organization's acceptance of ACPE continuing education units, please contact your organization directly.
The American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. Pharmacists can obtain 5 hours of ACPE credit and 5 hours of BCPP Recertification credit by successfully completing the online Clinical Application Series examination.
The American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists is approved as a Professional Development Provider for the Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP) specialty by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS). This course is part of a 5 hour BCPP recertification product earned after successful completion of the associated BCPP recertification examination for the full product.
AAPP reports continuing credit for ACPE (CPE Monitor) and BCPP Recertification (BPS) within days of successful exam completion.
AAPP owns the copyright, is licensed or has received permissions for use of, or is otherwise permitted to use copyrighted materials within any CPE activity. Authors and speakers are required to obtain necessary copyright permissions for content in CPE activities. AAPP complies with copyright laws and regulations.
Marissa Cullen, PharmD, BCPP
Clinical Pharmacist
UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Pittsburgh, PA
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Beth DeJongh, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP
Director of Continuing Professional Development
American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists
Lincoln, NE
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Traci Dutton, PharmD, BCPP, BCPS
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist - Mental Health; Program Director - PGY2 Psychiatry
VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System
Murfreesboro, TN
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Megan Ehret, PharmD, MS, BCPP
Professor
Monrovia, MD
External Consultant Activities, Advisory Panels, Speakers Bureaus, etc.: Saladex Biomedical Consultant,
Lexi-Comp Consultant/Reviewer, SMI Adviser; Pharmacist Consultant
Educational Grants, Research Grants or Contracts: FDA/University of Maryland CERSI, Maryland Behavioral
Health Department, NIH
Jordan Haygood, PharmD, BCPP
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist - Psychiatry
Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) College of Pharmacy
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Courtney Iuppa, PharmD, BCPP
Clinical Pharmacy Manager & Residency Program Director
Center for Behavioral Medicine
Kansas City, MO
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Archana Jhawar, PharmD, BCPP
Clinical Pharmacist
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy
Chicago, IL
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Linda Logan, PharmD, BCACP, BCPP, BCPS
Public Service Associate
University of Georgia College of Pharmacy
Athens, GA
Educational Grants, Research Grants or Contracts: HRSA Graduate Psychology Education Grant,
UGA Mental Health Seed Grants for MHFA and Virtual Dementia Tour, UGA College Pharmacy Ansel Fund
Jessica Mulhollan, PharmD, BCPP
Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner, Substance Use Disorders
Northeast Ohio VA Healthcare System
Cleveland, OH
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Melissa Palmer, PharmD, BCPP, BCPS
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist - Mental Health
Alaska VA Healthcare System
Anchorage, AK
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Jake Peters, PharmD, BCPP, BCPS
Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice/Clinical Pharmacy Specialist - Psychiatry
Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Sarah Popish, PharmD, BCPP
VA PBM Academic Detailing Services, Program Manager
Department of Veterans Affairs
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Alisha Striedel, PharmD, BCPP
Mental Health Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner
Central Texas Veterans Health Care System
Temple, TN
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Kara Wong, PharmD, BCPP
Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner, Mental Health
Minneapolis VA Health Care System
Minneapolis, MN
No Relevant Financial Relationships to Disclose
Off-Label Use: This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA (see faculty information). The opinions expressed in the educational activity do not necessarily represent the views of AAPP and any educational partners. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.
Disclaimer: Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications on dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.
This activity may include discussions of products or devices that are not currently approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or are currently investigational.
In accordance with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it is disclosed that there is the potential for discussions concerning off-label uses of a commercial product/devices during this educational activity.
Any person who may contribute to the content of this continuing education activity must disclose significant relationships (and any known relationships of their spouse/partner) with commercial companies whose products or services are discussed in this activity. Significant relationships include receiving from a commercial company research grants, consultant fees, travel, other benefits, or having a self-managed equity interest in a company.
Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone any bias in any presentation but is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation.
It is the policy of AAPP to ensure independence, balance, objectivity, scientific rigor, and integrity in continuing education activities. Those involved in the development of this continuing education activity have made all reasonable efforts to ensure that information contained herein is accurate in accordance with the latest available scientific knowledge at the time of accreditation of this continuing education activity. Information regarding drugs (e.g., their administration, dosages, contraindications, adverse reactions, interactions, special warnings, and precautions) and drug delivery systems is subject to change, however, and the reader is advised to check the manufacturer’s package insert for information concerning recommended dosage and potential problems or cautions prior to dispensing or administering the drug or using the drug delivery systems.
Fair balance is achieved through ongoing and thorough review of all materials produced by faculty, and all educational and advertising materials produced by supporting organizations, prior to educational offerings. Approval of credit for this continuing education activity does not imply endorsement by AAPP for any product or manufacturer identified.
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The American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. Pharmacists can obtain 5 hours of ACPE credit and 5 hours of BCPP Recertification credit by successfully completing the online Clinical Application Series examination.