According to a July 2017 article in Mental Health Clinician, in a survey of 176 medical schools in the United States and Canada, a median time of 5 hours in the whole of the curriculum was spent on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT)-related content. For pharmacy schools, the data is no better, with roughly 54% of schools stating no coverage of LGBT content in their coursework, as noted in a  November–December 2014 Currents in Pharmacy Teaching & Learning article. Schools proclaim to educate their students on compassionate care, yet are falling woefully short with LGBT 
education and training.  

The fresh start of a new year is the perfect time to reflect on the past 12 months and set goals for growth. Although many New Year’s resolutions are broken within the first few weeks, research suggests that simply making a resolution can increase your chances of being successful by up to 10-fold.¹ 

Beyond deciding to make a positive change in the new year, what can you do to ensure those resolutions last? Based on research from goal-setting theory, a number of factors can increase your chances of a successful New Year’s resolution. Among some of the most important are the specificity and difficulty of your goals, as well as the feedback you receive in your pursuit of them.² Below are some practical ways in which you can capitalize on each of these key factors.

Last October, I was invited to give the annual Rho Chi Robert L. Boblitt Lecture at my alma mater, the University of Houston (UH) College of Pharmacy. The usual topic for this annual lecture is the future of pharmacy practice from the perspective of a pharmacist leader. Fondly remembering some of the Boblitt lectures I attended when I was a student pharmacist, I was overwhelmed with pride at receiving the invitation. Then, I remembered the typical demographic for Boblitt lecturers: association leaders, former deans of schools and colleges of pharmacy, and practitioners with decades of service. In a blink of an eye, I had officially become … seasoned.

Regarding inventing the incandescent light bulb, Thomas Edison said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” So, if failure does not exist, what about fear? 

We typically respond to the possibility of failure and risk with fear. As Robert Sapolsky and others have revealed, fear is a primitive survival instinct. On one hand, we will pay good money to scare ourselves silly by watching the latest horror movie or by jumping out of an airplane—or we try to avoid fear at all costs. Yet avoiding present realities, or resisting them, is not actually our best approach. 

In celebrating the 50th anniversary of APhA–ASP, let us appreciate the work that has been done to allow the opportunities that we have today. The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined efforts of every individual. Long before our official establishment in 1969, passionate student pharmacists came together to push boundaries and pave the way for us to actively engage in APhA–ASP today. Many of these leaders are still involved in shaping the future of pharmacy; they truly display the promise for advancing the profession that we make when we first put on our white coats.