Report of the AACP Professionalism Task Force, May 2011

CHARGE TO THE TASK FORCE President-Elect Rod Carter created the AACP Professionalism Task Force as a special committee to serve during his term of office in 2010-2011. The Task Force met in Chicago, Illinois on February 4-5,2011 and conducted the remainder of its business via conference calls and electronic media. The Task Force was specifically charged to examine the current status of the various initiatives, which aim to build and assess professional attitudes and behaviors in student pharmacists, including: * Leadership; * Interprofessional professionalism; * Honesty, ethics and e-professionalism; and * Admissions implications.  Professionalism of its practitioners is an area the profession of pharmacy has been striving to improve for many years. As the pharmacist's role has evolved to include more patient care activities and less dispensing activities, professionalism has become a critical component of the skills necessary to provide this level of patient care and to be fully recognized as an equal partner in healthcare. The profession has adopted the Doctor of Pharmacy entry-level degree, resulting in longer and more rigorous educational programs. In addition, these programs require an increased duration of pre-pharmacy work to prepare graduates for a more patient-centered role in healthcare. An essential component of this preparation is the development of professional attitudes and behaviors. The responsibility of the development of these professional attitudes and behaviors ultimately lies with the student. However, it is influenced by their pre-pharmacy experiences, as well as by the faculty of colleges and schools of pharmacy (COP/SOP) where they earn the Doctor of Pharmacy degree. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) has been significantly engaged in addressing the issue of professionalism in the past. Two important reports serve as examples of the association's work in this area. In 1999, the AACP Council of Deans/APhA-ASP Task Force on Professionalism published a white paper on pharmacy student professionalism that was a culmination of a five-year commitment to study and promote pharmacy student professionalism. Recommendations were made for students, academia (including recruitment, admissions, educational programs, and practice), and practitioners. (1) After reviewing the recommendations of the AACP-ASP Task Force, the AACP House of Delegates later adopted a resolution that encouraged the inclusion of students in the admissions process as a means of enhancing professionalism within the Academy. (2) Among other things, the AACP-ASP Task Force also developed the Pharmacy Professionalism Toolkit for Students and Faculty. This resource is still available on the APhA website and provides specific activities and strategies students and administrators can utilize to promote and assess professionalism effectively on their own campuses. (3) The second major report was the AACP White Paper on Student Professionalism commissioned in 2003. (4) This report identified specific strategies the Academy should embrace to enhance professionalism in COP/SOP. In addition to these two reports, AACP's current Strategic Plan includes numerous strategic directions and objectives dealing with professionalism in its Critical Issue #1 (Human Resources for Education, Research, Service) and Critical Issue #3 (Professional Practice Development) sections. (5) Many of AACP's surveys also work to assist COP/SOP in assessing elements of professionalism through the Graduating Student Survey, Alumni Survey, Faculty Survey, and the Preceptor Survey. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) has also emphasized the importance of professionalism in its Standards and Guidelines, especially through Standard Number 23: Professional Behavior and Harmonious Relationships. (6) This standard outlines policies that should be developed related to expected behaviors and consequences for deviation from these policies, as well as student government opportunities. …

Field of study: Education, Medicine