Joshua Fleming and Emily Carrell
OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy professor and student assumed leadership roles with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists this summer.
Joshua Fleming, clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice, was installed as vice chair of the executive committee of ASHP’s New Practitioners Forum at the society’s summer meeting in June. At the same meeting, Emily Carrell, a fourth-year professional pharmacy student from West Salem, Wisconsin, was installed as chair of the executive committee of ASHP’s Pharmacy Student Forum.
“We are extremely proud of Josh and Emily,” said David D. Allen, the school’s dean. “Thanks to their outstanding leadership, our School of Pharmacy is well-represented at the highest levels of ASHP.”
The New Practitioners Forum is “the organizational home for any new pharmacy graduate,” Fleming said. “It consists of pharmacists who received their terminal degrees in the past five years. There are approximately 5,000 members representing all types of pharmacy practice, including staff pharmacists, residents, clinical pharmacists, pharmacy faculty and others.”
The executive committee, the forum’s governing body, meets to ensure that all these new practitioners’ educational and organizational needs are being met.
“My overall goals as vice chair are to provide thoughts and guidance towards the forum’s future directions, while maintaining some of the excellent resources it already offers,” Fleming said.
Fleming also will serve as liaison to the executive committee’s practice and residency advancement advisory groups, in addition to working with ASHP’s Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative.
The executive committee of the Pharmacy Student Forum serves as the voice for ASHP’s student members, Carrell said.
“We work closely with the ASHP board of directors and staff to ensure our goals align with the organization’s overall goals,” she said. “As a committee, our goals are to ensure that our student members are informed about topics relevant to them, such as the advancement of pharmacy practice and the residency application process.”
Carrell, who served as vice chair of the committee last year, was selected as chair by ASHP’s president and board of directors.
“A few of my goals are to work closely with my team to increase communication between ASHP and its student societies, keep our members informed about the exciting political changes that are occurring, and encourage our student members to utilize all the benefits that ASHP offers them, all while having fun and enjoying every minute of it,” Carrell said.
“Any time you have the opportunity to be an organization’s leader, its members depend on you to work hard and be an advocate for them. This just happens to be on a national level.”