•From the President • Stefanie Ferreri, PharmD
ing with Penny from her start date. Given the change in leadership at NCAP, the Executive Committee decided to have the president and president-elect serve 18-month terms instead of the typical 12-month term. Stephen Eckel Thankful. That is the theme of concluded his term as president my column for this Journal. As I in June 2017, and I will assume write this column we are enterthe role through December 2018. ing the holiday season. We are I want to thank Stephen for his getting ready to spend time with leadership and mentorship. I am family and friends and reflect on looking forward to our continued our lives. Much of the reflection relationship as he transitions to is personal and family focused, past-president. but we can also do the same in As I assume the presidential role, regards to our professional lives. I I look forward to working with the am thankful and humbled to serve Board on behalf of the members of the profession as the state associa- NCAP. I will have two main initiation president. In my short tenure tives during my 18-month term. as president, I have worked with a The first will be to increase memgreat group of leaders. bership. We have had a decline in At the center of our professional membership in the past 3-4 years. association is our Executive Direc- Given the turnover in leadership tor, Penny Shelton. She has been and the uncertainty of the Assowith us for a little more than a ciation, this is completely underyear. She has been instrumental standable. However, I can assure in working with the Education you NCAP is in a great place, and Committee to revise the annual we need ideas from our members meeting and our continuing eduto make it even greater! I chalcation programs. In addition, her lenge current members to recruit leadership has brought renewed just one non-member to join. I energy to the Association. She has have a couple of folks that I will reviewed membership benefits, personally be bugging to renew; by-laws, finances, resources and Watch out: I’m coming for you! committees for the Association. Increasing membership will help She has been heavily involved in with my second initiative, which is advocacy. NCAP has benefited advocacy. All of the practice settremendously from her leadership tings in North Carolina require an in a short period of time. For this, advocate to seek public support for I am extremely thankful. causes or a particular policy. The I have had the pleasure of workpast year NCAP hired a part-time 4
lobbyist, Tony Adams, to advocate for the profession. Tony has been working in Raleigh to make sure our voices are heard. NCAP needs your help to continue this advocacy role. Therefore, funds raised at the annual meeting from the silent auction and the 50-50 are going toward advocacy efforts. I am thankful for those who participated in those fundraisers. Transform through Innovation. That was the theme of the NCAP annual meeting in September in Winston-Salem. North Carolina has been a leader in transforming pharmacy practice through innovation. The roundtables, posters, workshops, and networking activities were great opportunities to learn from others. If you have not been to a meeting in recent years, consider placing it on your calendar for next year! While there will always be frustrations in your professional lives, the positives of our profession and what is happening in our state far outweigh our concerns. Now I need to hear from you! What ideas do you have? What changes do you want to see? How do you want to get involved? Feel free to let me know your thoughts via email at stefanie_ferreri@unc. edu or follow me on Twitter @ stefanieferreri I want to wish each of you a Healthy and Happy Holiday Season, and I am thankful that I get to serve our state association this year.
