Searching for Solutions

Psychiatric Pharmacists on the Hill

This week, AAPP is cosponsoring a Hill Day in conjunction with the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP), the National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA), and the National Association of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA). Advocates will be learning more about effective advocacy and review talking points for the Hill visits tomorrow focused on IRA implementation, PBM reform, and the future of pharmacy billing. Thank you to our psychiatric pharmacy advocates and fellow pharmacy associations for partnering with us on this critical event.

A Year of Achievement: Highlighting the Impactful Work of AAPP Collegiate Chapters

The 2023-2024 academic year has been another outstanding period for our AAPP collegiate chapters, showcasing their dedication to promoting psychiatric pharmacy and mental health awareness. Forty-seven collegiate chapters submitted annual reports, highlighting significant community service, campus activities, research, and professional growth. The 2023-2024 year also saw 64 in-person attendees to the annual AAPP meeting, with sixteen posters presented across eleven schools of pharmacy.

Employer Resources: The ABC's of Practice Expansion

AAPP’s most recent strategic plan is chock full of goals surrounding the expansion of opportunities for psychiatric pharmacists. An aggressive and big assignment for sure, with no one solution that achieves the goal of growing awareness and inclusion of psychiatric pharmacists into treatment teams and health systems. After significant brainstorming and research, a plan emerged (see figure) in late 2021 that involved numerous committees and task forces conducting complimentary work simultaneously to achieve the end goal of increasing demand for psychiatric pharmacists.

Powerful Stories Among Us Session Kicks off AAPP 2023

As psychiatric pharmacists, we pride ourselves in the top-notch patient care that we provide, sometimes even serving as the patient’s main source of contact and primary prescriber. We see ourselves as empathetic and work tirelessly to break down stigma. Every day we go into work and provide compassion to the patients we treat. Sometimes though, we tell our colleagues, friends, and family stories. Stories from our patients that make us laugh or roll our eyes, or stories about our patients – the ones we don’t like because they have [insert mental illness], and we don’t enjoy working with them. Have we ever stopped to think that maybe the person we’re talking to also suffers from that or a similar mental illness?

Burnout Among Psychiatric Pharmacists: Drivers and Interventions to Improve Clinician Well-Being

At AAPP 2023, Dr. Jason Bonner, PhD presented on “Burnout Among Psychiatric Pharmacists: A Discussion of Drivers and Evidence-Based/informed Interventions to Improve Clinician Well-Being.” Dr. Bonner is a Clinical Health Psychologist in Primary Care-Mental Health Integration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at the Durham VA Health Care System. He is a subject matter expert on stress, burnout, coping, well-being and resilience for pharmacy residency training and provides guidance on issues intersecting wellness and pharmacy training.

Use AAPP Advocacy Tools to Make Your Voice Heard

Grassroots advocacy can be one of the most influential tools that a profession can employ to bring issues to the attention of legislators at all levels from state to federal government. Policymakers must have input directly from those affected by a certain issue so they are aware of the needs in their communities and understand fully the ramifications of changes in policy. AAPP has provided a suite of tools and issue briefs to support you in your grassroots efforts whether at the state or federal level.

Tips for BCPP Examination Preparation

Every person’s journey to preparing for and achieving the Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP) credential is unique. However, hundreds of BCPPs have shared tips and techniques that assisted in their success. Customize the tips below to your background and situation. Good Luck!

Delivering Collaborative Care by Obtaining a DEA License

Obtaining a Controlled Substance Registration Certificate (DEA license) was encouraged by my site in order to help better serve our patient population. There are many practice settings where this would be useful for a pharmacist. Currently I work in an outpatient mental health clinic, where I work collaboratively with a variety of health care providers including psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists, and nurse practitioners. Having this certification means I can use the full scope of my knowledge and apply it to practice. Potentially this could work well in other collaborative settings including inpatient treatment, depending on the role of the pharmacist.

Continuing Professional Development for Psychiatric Pharmacy Residents and New Practitioners

One of the most important elements to advancing the profession of pharmacy is the commitment to lifelong learning. However, the delivery of continuing education has experienced relatively little change in the past 50 years in comparison to the changes we have seen in the profession of pharmacy.1 Traditionally, continuing education has been delivered through formal training with the learner motivated by the need to meet predetermined credits/hours set by the state boards of pharmacy or the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS). Over the last several decades, new methods of delivering education to pharmacists and other health professionals have been proposed and integrated in some areas.

Featured AAPP.org Resource: Practice Profiles

AAPP maintains nearly a dozen member profiles showcasing the impact of psychiatric pharmacists in various roles and practice settings. We encourage you to use these profiles as you advocate for psychiatric pharmacy with your employer and/or with external policymakers. Outreach to info@aapp.org if you have a practice impact story to tell as well! 

Thanks to Corporate and AAPP 2025 Sponsors

AAPP extends our sincere thanks to the sponsors of AAPP 2025. Your partnership helped make this event possible and supports our ongoing efforts to advance the field of psychiatric pharmacy.

Congratulations to AAPP Award Winners!

AAPP recognizes psychiatric pharmacists who have made significant contributions to the profession and to our organization and profession. Each winner was recognized during AAPP 2025. Review the press releases to learn more about these accomplishments.

AAPP 2025 Activities Sponsored by the AAPP Foundation

The AAPP Foundation Board of Directors is looking forward to the 2025 AAPP Annual Meeting! Our booth will be on Level 4 outside the Regency Ballroom. Members of the Foundation Board will be present at various times throughout the event to answer your questions about donations, bequests, grant programs, and more! Please join us for various Foundation-supported activities.

Pre-Meeting Workshop: Presentation Design and Speaker Development 

Student Registration Grants Awarded for AAPP 2025

Thanks to generous AAPP Foundation donors and the AAPP Past President's Destiny Fund, 20 PharmD students were awarded grants for full, in-person student registration to AAPP 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah! Congratulations to the following recipients:

Trauma Informed Care Session Session at AAPP 2025 Supported by Kim Tallian Bequest

The estate bequest made by long-time AAPP member Kim Tallian, PharmD, BCPP, FASHP, FCCP, FCSHP, APH will be partially applied to a session sponsorship at the upcoming 2025 AAPP Annual Meeting titled, Addressing Social Determinants of Health through Trauma-informed Care, presented by Dr. Marie A. Chisholm-Burns. Dr. Tallian was a passionate psychiatric pharmacist and advocate for the profession, students, residents and patients, and she passed away in January 2023 after a 3-year battle with cancer. 

AAPP Foundation President's Message: Spring 2025

Welcome Spring! I am looking forward to the change of seasons and having more daylight, sun, and warmth. And just like the change of seasons, there are changes to look forward to from the AAPP Foundation this year. The AAPP Foundation Board of Directors have been hard at work and cannot wait to share the successes from 2024 and the plans for this year! 

Member News: May 2025

Growing the psychiatric pharmacy workforce is one of AAPP’s significant priorities. Driving students into the field of pharmacy is a critical piece. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy is working to attract students to the field by showcasing the diverse opportunities and rewards in pharmacy. We encourage you to offer to share your profession with the Pharmacy is Right For Me campaign just as AAPP Treasurer Krissy Reinstatler, PharmD, MBA, BCPP recently did.

Attendee Wellbeing at AAPP 2024

AAPP is proud to host psychiatric pharmacists, psychiatric pharmacy residents, and pharmacy students of diverse races, ethnicities, religions, genders, and sexual orientations at AAPP 2024. AAPP understands how the environment in the host state of Florida may be concerning to conference registrants and members and, as such, AAPP has taken many steps to prioritize the attendee experience and wellbeing.