2020: A Year to Remember? I say absolutely! by Karen M. Gunning, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, FCCP
Associate Dean of Community Engagement
Professor of Pharmacotherapy & Adjunct Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine
University of Utah College of Pharmacy and School of Medicine
Clinical Pharmacist – University of Utah Sugarhouse Health Center
After more than a decade of involvement with BPS, I was honored to assume the BPS Board of Directors Chair role in 2020. Little did any of us know what 2020 would hold not only for BPS, but for our families, health care, the country, or the world! As the New Year rang in, many people are anxious to put 2020 in the past and approach 2021 with new energy. While I agree on leaving 2020 in the dust, I do think we have learned, experienced and conquered many important things in 2020 that will enrich our work going into the future. I will focus then on the positives, my thoughts as BPS Chair in 2020 and the opportunities for continued progress and growth in 2021 and beyond.
I think the profession of pharmacy in 2020 has come to the forefront – changing perceptions of who we are, what we do and how we can support public health. Pharmacists put patients first by being on the front lines of healthcare delivery regardless of the setting. I know that often meant traditional methods of work changing rapidly, long hours, often without adequate personal protective equipment, and evolving best practices. Many pharmacists, including me, became adept in virtual visits, with higher volumes of phone calls and patient emails. Other pharmacists worked hard to serve their hospital teams remotely and often took on huge workloads to ensure our student and residents could continue to learn. Our patients, who were so afraid, relied on our steady calm voices as we assessed medications and managed acute and chronic conditions in all settings. I have learned so much about Teams, Skype, Zoom and Google Meets that will continue into the future – and this is a positive for all of us (maybe even more appreciated once we can all have a short (maybe long?!) vacation from it!) While we may joke about Zooming – it has transformed how we meet with each other – and how we can share information and collaborate across distance in engaged ways.
Specifically, with BPS, over 100 volunteers that serve on the BPS Specialty Councils quickly found ways to conduct all their work in a virtual environment. Staff also showed extreme flexibility and resilience to help assure that the work of BPS continued in an appropriate manner, and have provided worried candidates exceptional customer service as they navigated the early days of the pandemic during testing season. My last face-to-face BPS meeting was to attend the New Council and Board Member Orientation and Infectious Disease Role Delineation Study in the Washington, DC area in early 2020. Little did we know that would be our last BPS face-to-face meeting of the year and I do look forward to getting back to face to face meetings soon.
Hopeful that we would see the end of the pandemic, BPS expanded our first testing window in 2020 after some testing sites had closed early in the window. While the process was sudden and a little chaotic during that March and April timeframe, candidates who had appointments cancelled in the expanded April, May, June window were moved to the September/October 2020 testing window.
The BPS Board also approved a pilot program that would allow the use of live remote proctoring in certain areas. This was a progressive decision, given that BPS accreditors had not approved live remote proctoring previously. BPS petitioned for and was granted an exception for this pilot during the September / October 2020 examination window. Our in-house testing team and other staff are currently working on an analysis of the impact of this option for our candidates.
Work also continued on new specialties with a call for applicants for the initial Specialty Council for Emergency Medicine Pharmacy and a panel to conduct a role delineation study in Pain Management Pharmacy. We conducted role delineation surveys and business meetings remotely, and ensured that tests continued to those who wanted to push through. This would not have been possible without the dedication of our specialty councils and staff. I am so impressed with their work and focus, and dedication to the profession of pharmacy and the process of board certification. While we all value the in person, meetings, and we will have them again (without a doubt!), there are many processes that may continue virtually and this will allow us to move even ahead and be even more progressive as we refine our gold standard processes of certification for pharmacy.
The BPS commitment to quality was not de-railed by the pandemic, as BPS moved forward with accreditation under the International Standards Organization (ISO) 17024 Standard for Certifying Agencies. I am pleased to report that accreditation was granted to BPS in late 2020 making BPS one of just a handful of organizations to hold accreditation under the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and ISO Standards. This commitment to consistency and rigor in certification is unsurpassed in the world of pharmacy certification.
One final accomplishment at the close of 2020 saw the number of BPS Board Certified Pharmacists surpass the 50,000 mark. From the early days of board certification, I suspect many of us could not imagine a day when 50,000 pharmacists would be board certified. This an exceptionally significant milestone because it demonstrates BPS certification as a foundation; demonstrating pharmacists’ knowledge and training to optimize patient care. This is also significant because it further demonstrates that the roles of pharmacists are becoming more specialized to meet the needs of patients. The fact that BPS was able to continue the board certification process in 2020 is a tribute to the Specialty Councils, other volunteers, board and staff who tireless commitment to developing and maintaining rigorous credentials was not deterred.
While last year was not the year, we envisioned on January 1, 2020 I have many memories that I will take with me from this very strange year and from many years of BPS involvement. As we transition to 2021 and the leadership of Hal Richards as BPS Chair, I want to thank Pete Koval, Jerry McKee, and Rebecca Miller for their service on the BPS Board of Directors, and to welcome Laura Gordon, Anita Siu, and Sheila Botts to the Board. While we were not able to meet as a Board face to face, we did grow as a board, learn how to adapt, and did keep the important work of BPS moving forward. All of the skills learned in adapting to new methods of communication will enhance our work in 2021 and will expand our ability to engage and work with a wider group of board certified pharmacists as we work toward a focus on the recertification process and strategic planning for the future of board certification in pharmacy. Thanks to each of you – for your work in all sort of new ways to provide our communities with exceptional care and improved medication outcomes.