Psyched for Psych on Rotation: Board Certification and the Psychiatric Pharmacy Specialty—as told by an APPE Student Pharmacistby Aisa Mrkulic
BPS Student Pharmacist Intern
PharmD Candidate, Class of 2022
St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
You can either open yourself up to opportunities or close yourself off from them. Each, no matter your choice, is just that—a choice. Ultimately, every decision I made as a student pharmacist has led me to this point. Today, I am just two short days from completing my first-ever APPE. The Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) leadership and staff welcomed me with open arms to help kickstart the experience. As it turned out, ‘Road Trip to D.C.’ would remain on my bucket list a while longer. Of course, I had the ongoing pandemic to thank for the remote delivery of this elective rotation in association management and leadership.
I must admit, as eager as I was to script my future, I also felt quite nervous. I recognized that I knew very little, if anything at all, about association work. Navigating this unfamiliar space was the challenge I willingly took on. Certainly, a learner’s mindset never fails, no matter the learning curve, but at least initially, I had to compete with great uncertainty.
The narrative around the experience ahead was an unpredictable one. How much of the storyline would be mine for the taking? I sought out advice from mentors, pharmacy professionals and more, whose guidance all echoed the same sentiment. You get what you give. Only, this still left me with the question, ‘what am I trying to gain?’, followed shortly by, ‘how do I go about it?’
Most obviously, I was pursuing a functional understanding of BPS—its vision, mission, values…partnerships and operations. In the end, it was with an appreciation for all these things that I would walk away, with the added bonus of a stronger connection to my purpose.
Since 1976, BPS has provided pharmacists the opportunity to earn certification that validates their specialized knowledge, skills, and experience.
I was surprised to learn that there are not one, but three distinct pathways to board certification. Even more surprising is that not all board-certified pharmacists are residency trained. Residency training is not currently a prerequisite for specialization. Practice experience, however, is nonnegotiable. As it turns out, the issue of residency accessibility is one the Board has long recognized. In fact, BPS recognizes residency programs with ASHP candidate status—that is, those on the road to ASHP accreditation are acceptable in meeting eligibility requirements.
Presently, there are 14 BPS recognized pharmacy specialties. Each specialty presents with its own, unique requirements for board certification. Subject Matter Experts, or SMEs for short, volunteer their time to help develop what is a peer-reviewed, psychometrically sound, and thus, defensible standard. Eligibility criteria are additionally determined by a survey of practicing pharmacists within the corresponding specialty area. For me, nothing compared to the excitement of browsing the landing page for the Specialty Council on Psychiatric Pharmacy. Complete with professional biographies for each of its seven board certified members, I felt like a child in a candy store. It quickly became clear to me just how diverse even specialized practice can be.
I had the pleasure of meeting with the Chair of the Specialty Council on Psychiatric Pharmacy, Dr. Julie Dopheide, Pharm.D., BCPP, to discuss her leadership and more. Her counterpart, Vice Chair, Dr. Kelly Gable, Pharm.D., BCPP, came after council member Bethany DiPaula, Pharm.D., BCPP and CDR Anna Santoro, Pharm.D., MA, BCPP, NCPS. I found Dr. DiPaula’s career to have a focus on helping patients who suffer from substance abuse disorder. Dr. Dopheide’s career has an aspect that focuses on children and mental health. In fact, Dr. Dopheide commented that what drew her to current practice, was the hope surrounding treatment. CDR Santoro’s work with the Board of Prisons (BOP) introduced an even greater contrast between the practice settings and populations served as CDR Santoro works exclusively with male inmates.
Dr. Dopheide inspired me to start a conversation with my College of Pharmacy’s Office of Experiential Education about establishing affiliation agreements with sites capable of hosting IPPE and APPE rotations in psychiatric pharmacy. Dr. Dopheide, shared with me that at least one college of pharmacy in the Midwest had a requirement that all students complete one rotation in psychiatric pharmacy in order to graduate. Her required rotation in inpatient psychiatry inspired her to take another elective in child psychiatry and then to pursue a career in psychiatric pharmacy. With more available IPPE and APPE sites in psychiatry, more students will have the opportunity to get inspired to pursue careers in psychiatric pharmacy. The Specialty Council Chairs and Council member, CDR Santoro pointed out to me that one of the most difficult and critical skills to acquire for psychiatric pharmacy practice is motivational interviewing.
After connecting with CDR Santoro, I was energized by the prospect of following her lead by perhaps pursuing a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling. Similarly, Dr. DiPaula’s zeal for academia cemented for me many of the reasons why I aspire to educate future generations of student pharmacists—versatility and opportunities for professional development to name two.
All in all, I am so incredibly grateful for the conversations had with these extraordinary women in pharmacy, and to BPS Executive Director Bill Ellis’ advice to “move forward with purpose.” I will carry that with me this experiential year and beyond.