Pharmacist-addiction/recovery program revived after school's closure

The annual American Pharmacy Association-led Pharmacy Section at the Utah School, which educates pharmacists and student pharmacists on the dangers of addiction, returned to Salt Lake City in June under a new name, the APhA Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependencies, after the Utah School's closure last year.

In June 2014, Keith Marciniak, American Pharmacy Association (APhA) senior director of student and new practitioner development in Washington, D.C., received an email from Stephen Sheppard, director of the Utah School on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies, about a week before the 63rd session, alerting him that the Utah School would be closing its doors.

The Pharmacy Section, which started in June 1983 after a policy was passed in the 1982 APhA House of Delegates, not only educated on addiction in the profession, but also was an important part of the recovery process.

Marciniak said the APhA wanted to ensure that pharmacist and student pharmacist members still had the opportunity to attend the Pharmacy Section after the Utah School closed.

With the support of the APhA's senior management team and APhA staff, the APhA Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependencies was created to continue the message of addiction-related issues.

“There are very few conferences in the profession of pharmacy that change lives like the Utah School did,” Marciniak said. For me, personally, it was one of those defining moments in my APhA career. I am proud that the APhA Institute was a resounding success, and we look forward to providing this experience for many years to come.”