|
|
School of Pharmacy's McPherson Honored with Leading AACP Award |
The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) will honor Mary Lynn McPherson, PharmD, BCPS, CPE,
professor and vice chair for academic affairs in the Department of
Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, for
her excellence as a teacher, her outstanding achievements as a
researcher and scholar, and her overall impact on pharmacy education
and the profession.
She will receive the Robert K. Chalmers Distinguished Pharmacy Educator
Award on July 14 during the opening general session at the AACP Annual
Meeting, Pharmacy Education 2013, in Chicago.
"With so many exceptional pharmacy educators in the United States, I am
especially honored and humbled to have been chosen for this prestigious
award," says McPherson. "I am passionate about working with my
colleagues to prepare student pharmacists not only for graduation but
for the impact they surely will make in whatever paths they choose for
their pharmacy careers."
During the course of her 26-year career, McPherson has amassed an
accomplished teaching portfolio and a highly regarded reputation among
Maryland's students and faculty. She has led the development and/or
redesign of many courses in the School's curriculum, using cutting-edge
instructional methods to effectively teach courses such as Self-Care
and Nonprescription Pharmacotherapy and Care of the Terminally Ill. She
has served as the course manager for more than 20 classes.
McPherson is considered an international authority in the fields of
pain management and palliative care. Among her accomplishments in these
areas are expertise is the development of online training programs in
pain management for physicians and nurses, as well as a critical
thinking process for appropriate drug use in end-of-life patients that
is used by numerous pharmacy and medical practitioners. She also
created the first Pain Management and Palliative Care PGY2 Pharmacy
Practice Residency in the United States at the University of Maryland
School of Pharmacy and led the effort to establish goals and outcomes
for this residency, resulting in recognition by the American Society of
Health-System Pharmacists.
Most recently, McPherson was awarded one of 11 National Institutes of
Health grants to co-lead the University of Maryland's Center of
Excellence in Pain Education. In collaboration with colleagues from the
University's other health profession schools, the University is
teaching the next generation of health care providers to be better
equipped to manage and treat patients living with chronic pain.
"Dr. McPherson has had a sustained positive impact on her students,
residents, and colleagues," says School of Pharmacy Dean Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FAAPS, FCP.
"She clearly epitomizes the gifted, committed, and exceptional teacher
that has instilled the lifelong learner concept into her students."
McPherson's commitment to and excellence in teaching extends outside
the School of Pharmacy. For many years, she was the course manager of
the nursing pharmacology elective in the University's School of Nursing
and she continues to lecture on pain management in the School of
Medicine's Department of Physical Therapy. McPherson implemented the
School of Pharmacy's annual Teaching Excellence Day (TED) program, a
daylong symposium designed to present topics in instructional design
and course development through "high-impact" presentations to faculty,
preceptors, graduate students, and residents. In addition to her
academic appointments, McPherson serves as a primary care pharmacist
and director of pharmacotherapy services at UniversityCare Heritage
Crossing (formerly UniversityCare Waxter) in Baltimore.
"It would be impossible to count the lives that have been touched and
enhanced by the work of Dr. McPherson," said Lucinda L. Maine, PhD,
RPh, AACP executive vice president and CEO. "Her patient care roles in
diabetes and pain, and her teaching and mentoring of students across
the health professions translates into improved health outcomes in so
many dimensions."
The award, named for the late Robert K. Chalmers, former AACP president
and distinguished educator, consists of a Steuben glass owl sculpture
and a monetary prize.
| |
