By Nimit Jindal and E. Michael Murphy, PharmD
In 1998, APhA–ASP National President Jay Phipps developed the first official APhA–ASP presidential theme “Bridging Dreams to Destiny” and established a precedent that would become the defining identity for so many student pharmacists. Since then, each national president has been tasked with the same responsibility: to lay out their vision and unite student pharmacists to work together toward one goal.
As we have both served as APhA–ASP National Presidents, we know how special the themes can be. The following are our thoughts on the process, the history, and the people behind these memorable messages.
Nimit Jindal: The rise of “Embrace Your Calling”
When I look back at my own journey through pharmacy school, I struggled early on to find a message that I could resonate with. Even after attending my pharmacy school orientation, I struggled to identify as a part of a single community. That all changed after I attended my first APhA–ASP Midyear Regional Meeting (MRM) and learned about Lucy West’s 2015–16 theme, “Live Your Why.” In the months that followed, I became swept up in trying to identify my “why” and find my purpose in the profession. As I set forth on this journey, I knew that tens of thousands of student pharmacists were also with me. I had found my community and I wasn’t alone.
Our history is filled with these messages, and for many of us they become doctrines for self-reflection and a call to action. Each year, we go to the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition, and during the final APhA–ASP House of Delegates session, the incoming APhA–ASP National President has their moment to unite student pharmacists to address the challenges we face in an ever-changing professional landscape. As a student pharmacist, the process seems automatic. It wasn’t until I was ready to transition into my role as APhA–ASP National President and began brainstorming that I understood how a presidential theme comes to life.
The moment that you get elected APhA–ASP National President-elect, there is a realization that you will be responsible for crafting next year’s theme, but it doesn’t actually sink in until much later. For me, that moment was in September 2017, when Michael began to prepare me for the presentation of my theme to the rest of the APhA–ASP National Executive Committee and APhA Student Development and New Practitioner Staff at the January Business Meeting. Michael told me that the best themes are those that are part of the national president’s identity and part of their story.
In the months that followed, I had an opportunity to travel across the country to meet with student pharmacists and chapters during the APhA–ASP Student Outreach Program and MRMs to share my own story of how I ended up in the profession, despite actively avoiding it. I talked about my struggles to find a purpose, and how despite my best intentions, I felt that life was taking me in a direction I didn’t feel attached to. In having these conversations, I noticed that I wasn’t alone in how I felt. Across the country, there were students who connected with my story and were also struggling to find meaning in the events of their lives. It was from these stories that “Embrace Your Calling” was born.
After speaking with some of the past APhA–ASP National Presidents, I am amazed by how much the process of developing a presidential theme has stayed consistent. I had a chance to speak with Kelsea Gallegos Aragon, PharmD, the 2016–17 APhA–ASP National President, and she told me that in the development of her theme, she too reached out to student pharmacists from across the country to understand the challenges that they faced. From her conversations, Kelsea noticed that student pharmacists weren’t focused on the individual leaders, but rather the people they surrounded themselves with. Her conversations focused more on the team and the family, rather than one single person. From these conversations she created her theme, “Together We Can.”
During the 2012 APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition, APhA–ASP National President David Steeb shared stories about the people who had made an impact on his life and the common factors they enjoyed. Following David’s inauguration in 2012, he wrote about the year’s national theme: “Your mark is what you leave behind and is often how you are remembered. Looking back at my father and the many other people who have changed my life, I realized that they share three key qualities: passion, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a willingness to give back to others. These three elements form the foundation for how to best make your mark on the world within APhA–ASP.” The impact that these individuals had led to the creation of his theme, “Make Your Mark,” and from that day forward, the presidential theme became a call to action for student pharmacists.
Now I will turn it over to Michael, who is a connoisseur of pharmacy history.
Michael Murphy: The passion is always there
It was in the beginning weeks of my first year as a student pharmacist that I realized the challenge of being a community organizer. The community I was working with was my fellow student pharmacists and I was sharing with them opportunities to get involved with patient care projects through APhA–ASP. I can still remember running up to the front of the room in between classes to list off the various health fairs and screenings that were being held that week. The response was mild. It can be hard to get people excited about events, but what more could I do than list off the opportunities?
It wasn’t until later that year that I experienced the true power of community organizing when I attended my first APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition and learned about Nick Capote’s 2014–15 theme, “Discover Your Voice.” Sitting in that giant conference room surround by thousands of student pharmacists, I felt the power of this one idea that united us. I went back to my school following the meeting and I shared my passion. I shared why these events were important and how there was a national idea that united us. I saw the difference and saw the power that a simple idea could hold to unite a group of students that spread to every corner of our country.
If you look at the history of our organization, the idea of a national theme is relatively young. However, since its conception, the ideas have grown in strength and prominence in events held throughout APhA–ASP Chapters. In Jay Phipps’ first theme, he realized that “securing the future of pharmacy is an active process requiring the participation of every member of the profession.” And what better way to bring the profession together than through the creation of a national theme to inspire and drive the activities of students across the country?
He explained the conception of the national theme during his presidential address at the 1998 APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition: “In the past year, I had the opportunity to talk with students from all across the country and encountered a resounding theme. Pharmacy students dream of being pharmaceutical care providers—pharmacists who provide quality patient care. APhA–ASP is bound by its mission to assist you, pharmacy students, in achieving that dream.” It was the hope that this shared idea would bring our community together in order to reach for our dreams. Even though the first theme was not officially recognized until APhA–ASP was in its 29th year, there are hints of uniting ideas prior to 1998.
In 1972–73, SAPhA National President Jack Nicolais focused his year on increasing student pharmacist involvement in “the grassroots … affairs of the organization.” Lucinda L. Maine, current CEO of the American Academy of Colleges of Pharmacy and the 2019 Remington Honor Medalist who served as SAPhA National President from 1979–80, shared in Nicolais’ focus the need for students to grow in grassroots efforts to make an impact in patient care and in the profession. Michael Hogue’s message from 1995–96 was focused on students building a strong base for their careers. He said, “As you build upon the foundation you have laid through pharmacy school and through involvement in APhA–ASP, I challenge you to build a building that has no roof. You must reach for the sky and allow your aspirations and vision of pharmacy to go as high as your drive and determination will take you.” Only a year later, Joshua Brenner was refining the message he was hearing from his peers and boiled it down to one word, “One message has come across loud and clear. You say you want a revolution.”
As the years rolled on, the themes expanded in length and then became more concise, but behind each of the words was a message to empower student pharmacists to make a difference in their communities and profession. From 2002–05, an overall theme was shared with “Our Mission … Our Moment.” Student pharmacists were encouraged to realize that their mission in school was to grow into the professionals that their future patients needed them to be and that there was no time better than the present moment to work toward advancing the profession.
Over the last 50 years, there have been many student pharmacists who have made their mark. They built the foundation of our organization and have worked to continuously improve upon the Academy reaching its mission. When there are so many people across such a diverse landscape, it can often be hard to have everyone pointed in the same direction.
Through servant leaders elected by their peers, direction and themes have been set for where the Academy must focus over the coming year. The words and people change but the passion is always there and a belief that if student pharmacists come together and find their calling, then they can achieve their dreams.
The effect
The APhA–ASP national theme is unique in its ability to unite student pharmacists around a challenge each year. And even though chapters from across the country engage in programming centered on that message, the success of a theme has always come back to the effect on a single student pharmacist. If even one student pharmacist can use the national theme to find their home in APhA or understand that they can contribute to the advancement of the profession, then we have met our goal.
As we focus on the future of the Academy, it’s interesting to see what challenges our Academy will be asked to tackle. In the end, the words and people may change, but if we remember to work together, we will be capable of achieving anything.
List of APhA–ASP national presidential themes
1998–99 Bridging Dreams to Destiny
1999–00 Making this Millennium our Milestone
2000–01 Moving Beyond the Boundaries
2001–02 Building Partnerships for a Brighter Future
2002–03 Our Mission … Our Moment: Your Key to Success … Open the Door to Endless Opportunities
2003–04 Our Mission … Our Moment: Share the Success … Developing Leadership and Professionalism in Pharmacy
2004–05 Our Mission … Our Moment: 35 Years of Serving the Profession and our Community
2005–06 Understanding Diversity: Raising Awareness to Better Serve our Patients
2006–07 Promoting the Profession: Changing the Perception of Pharmacy
2007–08 Embracing Health Literacy: Turning Information into Action
2008–09 It Starts With One: Empowering Student Pharmacists as Agents of Change
2009–10 Many Paths, One Purpose: Inspiring Student Pharmacists to Unite the Profession
2010–11 One Team: Working Together to Shape the Future of Health Care
2011–12 One Team: Working Together to Shape the Future of Health Care
2012–13 Make Your Mark
2013–14 Be the Change
2014–15 Discover Your Voice
2015–16 Live Your Why
2016–17 Together We Can
2017–18 Begin Your Legacy
2018–19 Embrace Your Calling