2015 AACP National Meeting: Improving Library Services and Pharmacy Education!

Mickel Paris, Health Sciences Librarian at Pacific

As the pharmacy school librarian at Pacific, I endeavor to gain more knowledge about how to improve library services for our pharmacy students and faculty.  The 2015 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) National Meeting in National Harbor, Maryland helped support this goal by presenting new ideas and opportunities for the Rite Aid Information Commons to provide more engagement with pharmacy students. I won a travel scholarship through the Sewell Fund First-time Conference Attendee Grant, which provided a seasoned conference mentor who helped me navigate the ins and outs of the conference.

Dr. Andrea Hinton is recognized as an AACP Master Preceptor!

                 The first evening was filled with introductions, as I met other members of the Library and Information Services (LIS) Section within AACP. The LIS Section is a small, welcoming group that encourages participation and conversation. I attended the “Librarians Welcome” on the first evening with my pharmacy faculty member, Dr. Linda Norton, and we met the other Sewell Grant Fund recipients. The Associate Dean of the Pharmacy School, Dr. Eric Boyce, served as a helpful faculty contact for a large portion of the conference.

                The conference was jam-packed with classes, seminars and group meetings that will help me provide better library services. From increasing outreach and marketing of the Rite Aid Information Commons to discovering strategies on how to evaluate publishers for publishing articles, the training will benefit both Pacific faculty and my own work. 

                My favorite part of conferences is the poster session! Finding out what other librarians and educators are researching provides excellent ideas to report back to faculty. It seems like a major theme of the posters at this meeting was “Interprofessional Education.” The research in IPE at the poster sessions will hopefully help us prepare for changes in ACPE accreditation standards.

Mr. Paris and Dr. Galal stand with students in front of their accepted conference poster!

                The poster session was also a moment of pride for the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, as a group of our students (J. Fong, J. Pham, D. Okino, & R. Chadha) presented their original research in pharmacy education! I was ecstatic that the evidence-based search training that I provided to them supported their research report, and the conference attendees loved their medication therapy management education data and results!

The Capitol Ferris Wheel in National Harbor, MD.

                The networking experiences I gained from the national meeting will help the library succeed, as I received so many wonderful ideas from pharmacy educators, librarians, researchers and pharmacists! Many of us enjoyed the Capitol Ferris Wheel, got to know each other over dinner, and agreed to meet again next year in Anaheim. If you are faculty, consider attending AACP -- and if you are a student, consider submitting a poster! The AACP group is very welcoming, and goes out of its way to bring in new people to contribute to pharmacy education.