Hilliard Runs for APhA Presidency; Faculty, Alumna Pursue National Positions
Nicki Hilliard, Pharm. D., a College of Pharmacy professor of pharmacy practice, has entered the contest to be the next president-elect of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA).
She is a former APhA-Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management president and APhA Trustee, serving on the APhA Governmental Affairs, Strategic Planning and Policy Standing Committees.
“By empowering the association’s members with the education, information and tools to succeed, I hope to be a driving force in making APhA a voice for the profession as it moves to an outcomes-driven payment system that can put pharmacy at the center of the new team-based care model,” Hilliard said.
Through APhA’s continued leadership in the Patient Access to Pharmacists’ Care Coalition and the Pharmacists Provide Care Campaign, the association can be the catalyst for change. She said in addition to playing a central role in team-based care, APhA should work to improve pharmacists’ communication with other practitioners with increased access to electronic medical records and to achieve recognition for the profession as health care providers through the Social Security Act.
Hilliard has expertise in interprofessional education, which is key to making team-based care work, as well as in online learning and educational technology.
Although she has pharmacy practice experience in community (independent and chain) pharmacy and free medical clinics, she has focused most of her career on being an innovative educator of nuclear pharmacy practice and management.
Hilliard has served on the Board of Pharmacy Specialties and is the chair of the Pharmacy Provider Status Task Force and the Government Affairs Committee for the Arkansas Pharmacists Association. She received both her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and her doctor of pharmacy degrees from the UAMS College of Pharmacy and a master’s degree in Health Services Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The many professional honors she has received include the APhA William H. Briner Distinguished Achievement in Nuclear Pharmacy Practice, the APhA Award of Merit, the APhA Fellow Bowl of Hygeia and the APhA Good Government Pharmacist of the Year.
“Working together, we can help achieve the Triple Aim by improving the patient care experience, improving the overall health of our communities and lowering costs.” Hilliard said.
To learn more about Hilliard and her candidacy, go to: http://www.pharmacist.com/nicki-hilliard.
To learn more about the election or to vote, go to: http://www.pharmacist.com/apha-elections. You must be an APhA member to vote.
Faculty, Alumna Also Running for National Offices
A 2014 graduate of the College, Rachael McCaleb is a candidate to be the APhA-APPM Executive Committee, New Practitioner Officer for 2017-2019. She practices as an assistant professor in the College’s Department of Pharmacy Practice and is a clinical consultant for the National Center for Toxicological Research.
As a student pharmacist, she was an active member of the UAMS APhA-ASP chapter and served in various leadership positions. She was awarded the United States Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Practice Award for her development of health education and programing for Arkansas youth. Her professional interests include internal medicine, drug information, pharmacy professionalism and advocacy, and leadership.
“I hope to make a large contribution to the advancement, recognition, and compensation of pharmacists as health care providers,” McCaleb said. “I’ll work to educate policy makers and other health care professionals on the value and impact of pharmacists in the health care system. I want to encourage new practitioners and all other Association members to develop and implement innovative pharmacy services so they can practice at the top of their licensures.”
Amber Bynum, Pharm, D., is running for the 2017-2019 term as member-at-large, pair II on the APhA-APPM executive committee. She is a graduate of the College and a pharmacy clinical service manager for Walmart. She also served as an official ambassador of Arkansas as Miss Arkansas, competing in the Miss America Pageant in 2006.
“We have a unique opportunity as pharmacists to change the face of health care in this country,” Bynum said. “We are already doing it. But, the goal should be to increase awareness and raise the baseline knowledge level of what our true capabilities are for patient care. Improving health care access, decreasing medication-related problems and mismanagement, and improving the quality of life of Americans are the top priorities of the APhA and our top responsibilities as pharmacists.”
To learn more about the candidacies of McCaleb and Bynum, go to: click here.
Elvin Price, Pharm. D., Ph. D., is running unopposed to be the APhA-APRS Basic Sciences Section Chair-elect. He is assistant professor in the College’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Price earned his doctor of pharmacy degree from Florida A&M University in 2004 and doctor of philosophy degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Florida in 2009. His research interests are in pharmacogenomics, clinical pharmacology, cardiovascular pharmacology, and endocrinology.