AAHP: Post Licensure Certification

Post Licensure Certification

The Oath of a Pharmacist:

Kim Young, Pharm.D. AAHP President The revised Oath was adopted by the AACP House of Delegates in July 2007 and has been approved by the American Pharmacists Association. This revised version was used starting with the Class of 2009 and it is as follows.

“I promise to devote myself to a lifetime of service to others through the profession of pharmacy. In fulfilling this vow: • I will consider the welfare of humanity and relief of suffering my primary concerns. • I will apply my knowledge, experience, and skills to the best of my ability to assure optimal outcomes for my patients. • I will respect and protect all personal and health information entrusted to me. • I will accept the lifelong obligation to improve my professional knowledge and competence. • I will hold myself and my colleagues to the highest principles of our profession’s moral, ethical, and legal conduct. • I will embrace and advocate changes that improve patient care. • I will utilize my knowledge, skills, experiences, and values to prepare the next generation of pharmacists. • I take these vows voluntarily with the full realization of the responsibility with which I am entrusted by the public.”

In the Oath of a Pharmacist that we all take upon graduation, it says that “I will accept the lifelong obligation to improve my professional knowledge and competence.” One of the ways pharmacists can do this is through post licensure certifications or additional credentialing. The definition of a certification is an official document attesting to a status or achievement. The definitionofacredentialisaqualification,achievement,personal quality, or aspect of a person's background, typically when used to indicate that they are suitable for something. The opportunities for pharmacists are many, we just have to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to us.

Many students are deciding on whether to pursue a PGY-1, PGY-2, or fellowship opportunity. Over the past 15 years the development of additional residency programs across the country and within Arkansas have made this a reality for multiple pharmacists. A traditional resident candidate enters a residency program upon graduation from pharmacy school, but that is not always the case. There are non-traditional residents that pursue a pharmacist position right out of school, and then decide they want to pursue a residency at a later date. It is less common, but definitely not unheard of. One could get an additional degree from a University. Pharmacists may choose to pursue a Juris Doctorate degree, Masters of Healthcare Administration, Masters of Business Administration, Master of Public Health, among countless others. Any of these can build upon and aid a pharmacist throughout his or her professional career.

There are numerous training certifications programs available to pharmacists through various organizations an. Just a few of those are: • Clinical Lipid Specialist Accreditation • Credentialed Pain Practitioner (CPP) • Certified Specialist in Poison Information (CSPI) • Diplomate of the American Board of Applied Toxicology (DABAT) • Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), • Pediatric Cardiovascular Life Support (PALS) • Credentialed Pain Educator (CPE) • Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (CGP) • Certified Professional in Electronic Health Records (CPEHR) • CertifiedProfessionalinHealthInformationTechnology(CPHIT) • Certified Asthma Educator (AE-C) • Certified Nutrition Support Clinician (CNSC) • Certified Anticoagulation Care Provider (CACP) NCertified

Diabetes Educator (CDE) National Certification Board for

Diabetes Educators (NCBDE) • HIV Specialist (AAHIVS) or HIV Expert (AAHIVE) or HIV

Pharmacist (AAHIVP) • Board Certified-Advanced Diabetes Management (BCADM) • Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) The Board of Pharmacy Specialities (BPS) is one of the more well known organizations for post-licensure certifications. The organizationbeganin1976asadivisionofAPHA,andin1978the firstspecialityofNuclearPharmacywasestablished.Today,BPS recognizes 14 different specialities (ambulatory care pharmacy, cardiology pharmacy, compounded sterile preparations pharmacy, critical care pharmacy, emergency medicine pharmacy, geriatric pharmacy, infectious diseases pharmacy, nuclear pharmacy, nutrition support pharmacy, oncology pharmacy, pediatric pharmacy, pharmacotherapy, psychiatric pharmacy and solid organ transplantation pharmacy) and has over 49,000 active pharmacist certifications. BPS continually evaluates the needs for additional specialities to be acknowledged.

These are just a few options that are out there for a pharmacist to continuehisorhereducation.Formanyoftheabovecertifications, they are not a one and done type item. You have to renew the certification at a defined interval either by examination or continuing education. This will ensure you continue to stay current with the most recent studies and guidelines related to your field of certification. Not only that, but the credentials/certifications highlightyouasanexpertinthatfield.Sometimesdependingon youremployerthismayequatetoamonetaryadvancement.But at the very least it will award you recognition among your peers. Thecertificationsarenotnecessarilyeasy,butitisaprocessthat will inertly cause you to grow within your profession/speciality. We are obligated as pharmacists to continue our education throughout the entirety of our profession, so why not get the recognition to go along with it? §

References: Hillin, K., & Generali, J. A. (2005). Post-Licensure Certification and Credentialing. Hospital Pharmacy, 40(6), 472-472. doi:10.1177/001857870504000601 History. (n.d.). Retrieved January 03, 2021, from https://www.bpsweb.org/aboutbps/history/ Oath of a Pharmacist. (n.d.). Retrieved January 03, 2021, from https://www. pharmacist.com/oath-pharmacist Salahudeen, M. S., & Nishtala, P. S. (2015). Credentials for a PharmD graduate: The voyage never ends. SAGE open medicine, 3, 2050312115584228. https://doi. org/10.1177/2050312115584228