June is a month of change for CPNP/AAPP. It is the end of our Board cycle and our fiscal year. In my final letter as President of CPNP I would like to review some of the highlights and continued developments in our member-driven organization.
CPNP is celebrating its 25th year as an organization in 2022. Throughout the year we have and will continue to celebrate our successes as we remember key milestones and honor the psychiatric pharmacists who came before us to envision and create CPNP. Additional details and a timeline of CPNP’s development can be found at https://aapp.org/25years.
The 25th CPNP Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas was our first in person meeting since 2019. We were one of the few pharmacy associations to offer both an in person and virtual registration options. It was great to see so many returning and new attendees and to recognize the 28 Founding members and 19 Past Presidents who joined us in San Antonio. It was truly an honor to thank these influential members who were instrumental in the founding of CPNP and the advancement of psychiatric pharmacy. We also honored Rob Dufresne, the 2022 recipient of the Judith J. Saklad Memorial Award. Congratulations Rob!
Thank you to the Program Committee for planning another outstanding Annual Meeting and to Austin Campbell, Program Committee Chair, and Jolene Bostwick, Program Director, for their leadership. The contributions of the Recertification Editorial Board including Chair Beth DeJongh and BCPP Director Megan Ehret, are also substantial and appreciated!
The Annual Meeting also allowed our Board to meet in person for the first time since November 2019. We continued to work on many facets of our 2021-2025 Strategic Plan. We reviewed our substantial progress which includes: the launch of the DEI committee, the Employer Resource Center Task Force, the Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee, the Core Outcomes Task Force, the Research Design Task Force, and the Committee on Innovation and Advancement. We have a lot of work ahead of us but with the support of our member volunteers, we continue to grow the specialty of psychiatric pharmacy. We also created a position of DEI Liaison to the Board and welcomed Dr. Ben Chavez, DEI Committee Chair in this role.
In April 2022 we published our Vision Paper, “Positioning Psychiatric Pharmacists to Improve Mental Health Care” in the Mental Health Clinician. This paper summarizes many of the key goals and initiatives of our Strategic Plan, including promoting the BCPP as the gold standard credential for psychiatric pharmacists.
By the end of 2022 our name change to the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP) will be complete. From our initial discussions until the Board’s final vote, it took nearly 15 months of careful deliberation, multiple discussions, and member input to finalize the name change. Our organization will not change its vision or mission, but the new name allows us to be more focused and authentic to who we are as a specialty.
I want to sincerely thank our Board members for their hard work and dedication over the past year. We have made a lot of important decisions and have worked closely on a number of key initiatives. I can honestly say I have never worked with a more collaborative, supportive group of individuals. Thank you to Tawny Smith, Clint Ross, and Marshall Cates who will be completing their terms on the Board this month. We have greatly appreciated their dedication to our organization. I would also like to welcome our incoming Board members, Amy Werremeyer (President-elect), Suzie Harris (Member-at-large), and Andy Williams (Member-at-large). Board members continuing their service include myself, Cindy Gutierrez (President-elect), Sarah Melton (Treasurer), Michelle Geier (Secretary), and Ben Chavez (DEI Liaison).
We would not be where we are today without our exceptional staff. Thank you, Brenda Schimenti, Greg Payne, Vanessa Wasser, and Katie Brase. We could not do any of this without you.
As I stated at the Annual Meeting, serving as President of CPNP is not a one-person job. Each Board and President builds on the progress and work of the organization’s previous leaders. As I hand over the gavel to Dr. Cindy Gutierrez, President of the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP), I will join all of you as members as she leads starts our journey into our next 25 years. Please join us as a volunteer, researcher, and supporter to ensure AAPP’s continued success. Thank you for allowing me to represent you as President. Have a great summer!