Chair's Message

Dear registrants,

I am honoured to serve as the new Board Chair for the College of Pharmacists of BC for a one-year term ending November 2015.

I would like to thank the outgoing Board members and welcome three new Board members who will no doubt bring new perspectives to the team.

The College has been busy at work this past year, building upon many of the initiatives set out in its strategic plan. These initiatives include promoting interdisciplinary relationships within the pharmacy and across the larger health care team.

To that end, the College offered a series of free online collaborative practice modules in partnership with the UBC College of Health Disciplines. More than 350 pharmacy professionals have enrolled, and many attended the full-day workshops that were held in February. The online modules are still open; I strongly encourage you to take advantage of them. The College also partnered with the Canadian Pharmacists Association to provide BC registrants with free access to e-Therapeutics Complete, an evidence-based, reliable Canadian drug and therapeutic online database.

The College also launched the Practice Review Program and will now be visiting pharmacies in person to review each practice setting and each pharmacy professional that works there. Compliance Officers will ensure that pharmacies meet College standards and that pharmacy professionals are appropriately applying their knowledge, skills, and abilities to deliver safe and effective pharmacy care.

The year ahead promises to be a busy one. There is renewed interest in the Advanced Practice Pharmacist initiative and I look forward to help move this initiative forward.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge those of you who volunteer your time on many of our committees. Committees accomplish very important work, and the College recently established two new committees to meet the changing needs of pharmacy practice: the Technology Advisory Committee and the Interdisciplinary Relationships Advisory Committee. Thank you for your dedication to the profession and your hard work.

On behalf of the Board, I look forward to our continued work together.

Anar Dossa, Chair