Phi Lambda Sigma Chapter honored

More than a decade ago, the Institute of Medicine began actively encouraging collaboration and communication among clinicians in order to reduce medical errors and provide for safer care.  In response to this, numerous practice organizations have advocated for enhanced interprofessional training with the rationale that it will improve communication, enhance collaborative competence, reduce interprofessional rivalry, restrict unnecessary duplication, enhance practice, and improve quality.

At the educational level, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) has amended the guidelines supporting the standards of the Doctor of Pharmacy to include a stronger focus on interprofessional collaboration and on leadership.  This suggests the recognition that developing today’s students as agents of change is a necessary precursor for pharmacy graduates practicing in collaborative health care teams.  Even with these incentives, however, many programs struggle to create meaningful opportunities for interprofessional collaboration because of distance, asynchrony, inertia, lack of leadership and other logistical barriers.

The mission of Phi Lambda Sigma is “to support pharmacy leadership commitment by recognizing leaders and fostering leadership development.”  We recognize that leadership, in particular leadership during times of change, can sometimes mean giving up (or convincing others to give up) something that is familiar, comfortable and working well for the potential of something that may take more work initially but have a higher long-term yield.