A Career in Academic Pharmacy: Opportunities, Challenges, and Rewards

Abstract

Recruitment, retention, and development of faculty members have been important concerns of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) in recent years as the faculty shortage has become increasingly acute. As part of these efforts, the AACP has sponsored a 2-hour program at the Midyear Clinical Meeting of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) every year since 2000 (Table ​(Table1).1). This symposium is designed to provide useful information to professional students, post-PharmD residents, and practicing pharmacists about careers in academia. The program has consisted of 3 speakers followed by a panel discussion with audience questions and answers. The first speaker is generally the current President of AACP, who provides an overview of pharmacy education today and outlines future trends in academic pharmacy. The second speaker is a department chair or other academic administrator in a college or school of pharmacy who provides a perspective on what is required for practitioner/educators to achieve success in academia. The third speaker is a practitioner-educator who describes his/her approach to successfully integrating teaching and practice responsibilities with faculty role expectations. All 3 speakers provide their personal perspectives on the benefits and challenges of life in academia. This paper is a compilation of 3 presentations given at a symposium presented at the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting in December 2004 entitled, “The Top Ten Reasons to Consider a Career in Academia.” A panel discussion involving all 3 presenters is provided in Appendix 1. Table 1 Examples of Previous AACP Symposia on Careers in Academia Held at ASHP Midyear Clinical Meetings