What Participants Are Saying About the Academy

See our video of testimonials from recent Academy participants!


Advance in Your Career
"Thank you for offering me this opportunity to learn, to become an effective
leader. I just facilitated a multidisciplinary taskforce meeting at the
request of the group's leader. I employed techniques learned through the Academy.
What an awesome experience with amazing results! My performance is improving every week. The system CEO sat down with me to discuss a new business venture to pick my brain. At the end of the discussion, he asked me to serve on the venture's team. Then he paused before asking me if I would like to lead the team. I know that I am improving, but this is definitely a milestone in my career."
-- Debbie Heckathorn, Director of Pharmacy Services, Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital, Boise, Idaho (2011 alumnus)

  “I valued the courses and the readings especially. The Pharmacy Leadership Academy provided broad overviews of many critical topics for pharmacy leadership. I found pertinent points from each module applicable to my practice. I think the best thing to come from it was that my boss noticed. During my recent performance evaluation, she noted that she had seen changes as I was completing the course – changes I didn’t see myself.”
─Matt Scola, Pharm.D., Director of Pharmacy, UPMC Northwest, Seneca, Pa. (2008 alumnus)


Broaden Your Knowledge
    "The greatest value is the perspective I am gaining, issues I would not see otherwise."
--John Clark, Pharm.D., Pharmacist, Catholic Medical Center, Manchester, N.H. (2010 alumnus)

    "Exposure to so much broader a perspective, new knowledge gained through the readings and -- perhaps most valuable -- the real-time problem solving."
--Judy Redmond, B.S., M.B.A., Pharmacy Coordinator, Overlook Hospital, Summit, N.J. (2010 alumnus)

 “The second module was Leading Change and Innovation. The very first article in this module will be one I always remember. The article is titled The Weird Rules of Creativity. Although I know I have some “creativity” in me, I still resort to the pharmacy brain of being too regimented and set in my ways (and black and white). This article challenged me to think more outside the box, even to the point of considering hiring people who do not ‘fit the mold’ and make me feel ‘uncomfortable’. It also challenged me to ‘ignore long-standing management wisdom and adopt downright weird ways.’ NOT SO EASY FOR ME!!! It stretched me outside my comfort and, as a result, I have started keeping a journal of “3 new ideas a week” that are not normal and challenge me to think freely, being that there is no right or wrong answer. I hope that from this, I will look outside my day-to-day challenges and look to third alternatives that are creative. One idea I already plan on doing is having a pharmacy newsletter filled with needed information for all staff to know (to help communicate to everyone), but also have some fun things on it so that it draws staff to read it.
 ―Lonnye Finneman, Pharm.D., Assistant Director of Pharmacy, Southwest Washington Medical Center, Vancouver, Wash. (2009 alumnus)

 “The reading materials and contact information for speakers has become an essential part of my leadership toolkit. It was invaluable to interact with other pharmacy managers facing the same economic and regulatory challenges.”
―Michele Hudak, Pharm.D., Pharmacy Practice Manager, Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, Wash. (2008 alumnus)



The Participant Experience
    "The program design itself is amazing. It makes you think, and it is such an enjoyable experience, forcing introspection and self-identification with key concepts."
-- Karen C. Williams, Pharm.D., M.B.A., Pharmacist, Program Management Officer, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of Pharmacy Affairs, Rockville, Md. (2010 alumnus)

 "I am 54 years old, have been practicing pharmacy for over 30 years, and over half of those years have been as a hospital pharmacy director. I may not be the 'ideal' candidate the ASHP Foundation had in mind, if seeking to develop new and emerging leadership. However, I am sure there are many hospital pharmacy managers and directors in a similar place in their careers. We are in need of a program that can enhance and revitalize our careers as institutional pharmacy managers.    
    
    "I would recommend the Academy to any pharmacy director who feels worn out and is looking for training to refresh and renew their career as a pharmacy leader."
―Neal Walker, B.S.Pharm., Director of Pharmacy, University Medical Center-Mesabi, Hibbing, Minn. (2009 alumnus)


Real-Life Application
    “Just last week, I had the opportunity to speak to our provider group on a significant issue facing our practice. We have been dealing with this issue for several months, but somehow still seem to be playing catch up. For change in practice to occur, we need a real culture change, starting with the providers. During the module on change and innovation, we learned about why transformation efforts fail. The first reason is because there is a lack of a sense of urgency. Then it hit me – we as a leadership team have not
effectively communicated the sense of urgency needed to get their attention and instigate change. I am the youngest member of our leadership team, but I was able to share what I am learning from the Pharmacy Leadership Academy at our Wednesday operations meeting and was tasked with communicating the sense of urgency by Friday. Without the articles and Webinar to back me up, I might not have had the confidence to share my viewpoint or to speak candidly with our providers.
    
    “The common theme so far for me has been about building relationships. As a young and new leader, it is easy to focus on the new tasks before me and overlook the relationships along the way. I feel fortunate to be studying these lessons now when I have time to build relationships and network before I get too entrenched in the tasks.”
─Annie Lambert, Pharm.D., Oncology Pharmacy Supervisor, MultiCare Regional Cancer Center, Tacoma, Wash. (2009 alumnus)

  “When starting this program, one of my goals was to find a way to share what I learned with my fellow supervisors. We developed a monthly JUMP meeting (Just Us Managers, Please) where I summarize the Pharmacy Leadership Academy discussions for the month. I provide them with article references and handouts as well as highlight topics and discussion points that I found particularly interesting. This month, we listened to Sara White’s discussion on Leading People. I've been thrilled to be able to ‘spread the wealth’ of knowledge that I am gaining from this experience with my peers so that, together, we can make a difference in our department.”
― Leigh E. Warrick, Pharm.D., Supervisor, Critical Care and General Medicine, UHS/Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Greenville, N.C. (2009 alumnus)

 "As a new manager, less than 3 years in this position, it was refreshing to hear that my department issues are no different really than anywhere else. For each module, I was able to review the upper-level content with my director and discuss how we could manipulate different processes in the department. Overall, I think that if entire management teams could take the class and be able to be on the same page together, it would be a wonderful day at work!”
―Kim Melgarejo, Pharm.D., Pharmacy Manager, Borgess Medical Center/Borgess Pipp Hospital, Kalamazoo, Mich. (2008 alumnus)
         
     “As a participant of the Pharmacy Leadership Academy, there were so many pearls of information that I learned that it is hard to talk about just one aspect. The one that is uppermost in my mind is the ability to deal with the leaders in the C-Suite. There were many insights on how to approach administrators with pharmacy needs and information such as being prepared with data and information prior to meeting with administrators, having current state and future states depicted, giving details of consequences incurred if the renovation did not occur, researching like hospital pharmacies that already had in place changes that we desired, etc.

    “I have used this to obtain funding for a pharmacy renovation so that we can become 797 compliant. I am happy to say that we are starting renovation later this year and I feel that using the above tools really enabled me to get administrators to agree to the renovation. My whole department is grateful!”
─Mary A. Mollerus, R.Ph., M.B.A., Director of Pharmacy, Norton Hospital, Louisville, Ky. (2008 alumnus)
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