By Erin Ballentine, PharmD, MBA, MS, BCPS
2025 ushers in an exciting new chapter for APhA new practitioners! With the recent changes to the APhA bylaws and the restructure of the Academies into Communities, new practitioners will have a greater voice within APhA to amplify needs and provide key perspectives from this important demographic within the profession.
Here are a few changes and initiatives to look forward to in the new year.
A seat at the APhA Board of Trustees
For the first time, the board will include a designated new practitioner representative. As the current chair of the New Practitioner Advisory Committee, I am so humbled to represent new practitioners in this position and to advocate for the needs, resources, and aspirations specific to this membership class.
Representation in the APhA House of Delegates
In addition to the board position, there will be 10 seats in the APhA House specifically for new practitioners, providing opportunity to advocate for important pharmacy issues from the lens of recent graduates.
Community mission, vision, and strategic plan
The 2024–2025 New Practitioner Advisory Committee focused efforts on creating a formal mission, vision, and 2-year strategic plan for the New Practitioner Community. The intentional creation of these statements provides strategic direction for this group as we embrace the other changes of the APhA Community structure.
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- Mission: To empower the transition from student to practitioner by promoting opportunities for career advancement, fostering leadership development, and cultivating meaningful connections within the profession of pharmacy.
- Vision: To support a community where new pharmacy practitioners seamlessly integrate as contributing members of the profession, revolutionizing the future of pharmacy through innovation and lifelong learning.
Day of New Practitioner LIFE
Save the date! We are excited to announce that the APhA Day of New Practitioner LIFE will be October 24–25 at APhA headquarters in Washington, DC! This 2-day, in-person conference provides new practitioners with CE opportunities as well as networking activities to get to know other new practitioners from across the country.
Other important initiatives
The New Practitioner Community will accomplish its goals through the work of four vital workgroups:
- Member engagement: Focusing on revamping the New Practitioner Chapter Mentor Program, providing networking opportunities, and creating interest groups within our Community.
- Education: Focused on planning virtual CE activities and creating important resources for our members.
- Communications: Focused on developing social media and Engage content to highlight the work of our Community along with supporting our quarterly Road to NP LIFE e-publication.
- New Practitioner Community leaders: Comprised of new practitioner officers from each of the other Communities, this group will provide consultative oversight on needs and priorities for new practitioners represented in other areas of APhA.
Get involved
If you are a new practitioner looking for ways to become involved, there are many opportunities. Whether attending Day of NP LIFE or looking for future Workgroup applications, APhA is looking for engaged members to share their perspectives and talents with our team!
Please feel free to reach out to me at eballen3@jh.edu for additional information.Erin Ballentine, PharmD, MBA, MS, BCPS, is an inpatient clinical operations manager in the adult medicine, emergency and surgery pharmacy division at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD, the 2025–2026 chair of the New Practitioner Advisory Committee, and a member of the 2025–2026 APhA Board of Trustees. In her spare time, she enjoys running, exploring all that Baltimore has to offer, and supporting her favorite sports teams—the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Capitals, and Ohio State Buckeyes (representative of the various places she has lived).