UM Pharmacy Faculty Create Podcast to Inspire Pharmacists

In the first few weeks of 2018, a small group of faculty from the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy launched “PharmacyForward,” a podcast featuring interviews with experts and leaders about pharmacy practice, patient care and health care delivery in every setting.
The podcast, which has a tagline of “Transforming Knowledge into Action,” is dedicated to engaging and motivating pharmacists. The school’s Division of Pharmacy Professional Development produces the episodes, which are geared toward veterans and newcomers in the field.
The idea emerged from a statewide focus group of pharmacists who were looking for new ways to address professional development needs and unique educational programming, said Stuart T. Haines, professor of pharmacy practice and the division’s director.
“What emerged was a need to cover topics on practice management, how to advance our practices and how to interact with people,” Haines said. “Pharmacists have a lot of knowledge about diseases, but they don’t always know how to put that knowledge into practice.
“We want to tap into the insights from the movers and shakers in pharmacy today. With a podcast, we can reach any pharmacist in the world who wants to listen.”
In its debut series, three “PharmacyForward” episodes focus on relationship-building in different settings. Featured guests have created advanced practices in different regions of the country and have held leadership positions in organizations such as the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and American Pharmacists Association.
Featuring a variety of guests, one of the podcast’s main goals is to build a community of pharmacists that can work together and share their successes and struggles, said Josh Fleming, a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice. 
“Listeners can expect to gain knowledge about many crucial pharmacy topics that will help them move ideas from thoughts into practice,” Fleming said. “Our hope is that listeners will pick up on tools, tips and suggestions from other pharmacists on how to advance their practice, no matter what stage of their career they’re in.”
Faculty won’t be the only ones working on the podcast. Second-year ambulatory care pharmacy residents and student pharmacists are also part of “PharmacyForward.”
“I hope that students and residents alike will benefit from hearing about real-world experiences from a variety of pharmacists with different specializations,” said Laurie Fleming, clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice. “I believe that many of the topics will be helpful to them as they enter new practice settings, and I hope they’ll take the opportunity to discuss the podcasts with their preceptors.”
“PharmacyForward” sets its sights on giving listeners what they need to build advanced pharmacy practice areas, and Meagan Brown, clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice, sees the main goal in the podcast’s name.
“Our mission is to spread knowledge and ideas about people and places that are doing great work,” Brown said. “I hope listeners will be motivated to make improvements that continue to move the profession forward.”
Podcast episodes will be published once a month and are available at https://pharmacyfoward.podbean.com.

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By Whitney Tarpy