Letters from Rising Pharmacy Stars: Advice on Creating and Advancing Your Career in a Changing Profession

Today’s new health-system pharmacists face challenges and opportunities unknown even a few years ago, from new areas of practice to changing roles in the hospital setting. Though their supervisors and other senior level practitioners can offer valuable guidance, they cannot provide the insights, perspective, and experiential wisdom that early to mid-career practitioners can provide.

To fill this gap, ASHP has created a unique new publication: Letters from Rising Pharmacy Stars: Advice on Creating and Advancing Your Career in a Changing Profession. Edited by Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE, CEO of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, and Sara J. White, RPh, MS, FASHP, Former Director of Pharmacy at Stanford University and Clinics, Letters from Rising Pharmacy Stars is a collection of compelling letters from 30 “up and comers” who have demonstrated significant achievement in their careers.

A companion to ASHP’s Letters to a Young Pharmacist: Sage Advice on Life and Career from Extraordinary Pharmacists, published in 2014 by the same authors, this collection forms an inspiring guide to the choices and challenges that young pharmacists are grappling with, written by practitioners who share similar generational interests and concerns.

Readers will find practical guidance and fresh ideas on a wide range of topics, including:

• Finding and landing the right opportunities
• Choosing roles and settings that best match personal interests
• Navigating life and career as a two-pharmacist couple
• Pursuing a career as a pharmacogenetics clinical scientist
• Dealing with the impact of significant life events like a serious auto accident
• Coordinating postgraduate year 1 and 2 (PGY-1 and 2) residencies
• And much more.

Their down-to-earth advice can help readers navigate the changes in pharmacy practice, develop a long-term career strategy, and find the right work/life balance – and also offers valuable insights to residency directors and others who mentor them.

Susan Cantrell, BS Pharm, CAE, Director, Drug Information Association North America. As the first regional Director for North America, Susan works with the Advisory Council of North America and its Content Advisory Committee to develop DIA’s overall strategy for this region. She is also responsible for outreach to regulatory and other government agencies (such as the FDA and NIH), and related associations, and will divide her time between worldwide headquarters in Horsham (PA) and Washington, DC. As a regional director, Susan also serves on the Global Management Team, responsible for helping to coordinate DIA enterprise resources and policy from an operational perspective. Prior to joining DIA Susan was with the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, a professional society for whom she worked for 19 years in a series of progressively responsible positions. She most recently served as Vice President of Resources Development, where she led the Society’s efforts in domestic and international business development. Prior to this, she served as Managing Director, ASHP Advantage, a division of the society that developed and implemented accredited educational programs to assist pharmacists and health professionals. Susan brings significant experience in pharmacy practice, health care delivery and policy, and association management, including a substantial background in professional education, large meetings, business development, and volunteer engagement. Susan is a member of the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education, the American Society of Association Executives, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and the International Pharmaceutical Federation. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Mississippi, and has completed a residency in hospital pharmacy. She is pursuing graduate training in public health at the University of North Carolina. Susan’s numerous honors include the 2010 Alliance for Continuing Medical Education President’s Award.

Sara J. White, R.Ph., MS, FASHP. Sara is currently a primary faculty member for the ASHP Education and Research Foundation’s Pharmacy Leadership Academy (PLA) and Leaders Innovation Masters Series (LIMS) programs and a pharmacy leadership coach. She graduated from Oregon State University with a bachelor's degree in pharmacy. After graduation, she worked at the University of Oregon Medical Center and Emanuel Hospital in Portland for two years. She then earned her Master of Science degree at The Ohio State University and completed an ASHP-accredited residency at The Ohio State University Hospitals and Clinics. Sara served as associate director, director of clinical education, and professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center and School of Pharmacy for 20 years. She was the director of pharmacy at Stanford Hospital and Clinics and clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, for 11 years before taking an early retirement. She has served as an ASHP Foundation Scholar-in-Residence. She is in her third three-year term as a corporate board member for Omnicell. White has served as president of the Greater Kansas City Society of Hospital Pharmacists, Kansas Society of Hospital Pharmacists, and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. She has also served ASHP as chair of the House of Delegates, a board member, and a council member. She has received multiple awards for her contributions to pharmacy, including the Kansas Hospital Pharmacist of the Year Award, Kansas Pharmacist of the Year Award, Harold N. Godwin Lecture Award, Lambda Kappa Sigma Vanguard Leadership Award, Clifton J. Latiolais Award, John A. Webb Lecture Award, Ohio State Jack L. Beal Post baccalaureate Award, ASHP Distinguished Leadership Award and the Harvey A.K. Whitney Lecture Award. In addition to developing, implementing, and leading comprehensive computerized clinical and distributive pharmacy services, which included computerized prescriber order entry and unit-based drug distribution automation, Sara has trained over 90 pharmacy residents and taught numerous pharmacy students.