American College of Clinical Pharmacy

American College of Clinical Pharmacy
Name	American College of Clinical Pharmacy
Abbreviation	ACCP
Formation	1979
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	United States
Region served	North America
Membership	Pharmacists, clinicians, researchers

American College of Clinical Pharmacy The American College of Clinical Pharmacy is a professional association for clinical pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists that advances patient care, scholarly inquiry, and clinical practice. It engages members across settings including hospitals, universities, government agencies, and industry to influence practice standards and policy. The organization interacts with a wide array of institutions and individuals to shape clinical pharmacy through education, certification, research, and advocacy.

History

The organization's origins date to the late 1970s when clinical pharmacy leaders sought a specialized body distinct from American Pharmacists Association and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists; founders included faculty from University of California, San Francisco, University of Michigan, University of Kentucky, and University of Texas schools of pharmacy. Early chapters collaborated with bodies such as Institute of Medicine (now National Academy of Medicine), Department of Veterans Affairs, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration on therapeutic guidelines. Over decades the association convened symposia with partners like American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Diabetes Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and Infectious Diseases Society of America to integrate pharmacists into multidisciplinary teams. The group expanded international ties with organizations including World Health Organization, International Pharmaceutical Federation, European Society of Clinical Pharmacy, and Canadian Pharmacists Association.

Mission and Organization

The college's mission emphasizes clinical excellence, scholarship, and leadership with governance structured through a board and specialty practice sections linked to institutions such as National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins University, Mayo Clinic, and Cleveland Clinic. Committees liaise with regulatory bodies including Joint Commission, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Office of the Surgeon General while collaborating with research funders like Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and National Science Foundation. The organization hosts annual meetings featuring speakers from Harvard Medical School, Stanford University School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Membership and Certification

Membership spans practitioners from academic centers such as Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center to community settings like Kaiser Permanente and Walgreens clinical programs. Certification and credentialing initiatives interface with boards and credentialing agencies such as Board of Pharmacy Specialties, American Board of Clinical Pharmacology, Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy, and state boards in California Board of Pharmacy, Texas State Board of Pharmacy, and Florida Board of Pharmacy. The organization recognizes specialty sections tied to therapeutic areas prominent in organizations like American Society of Hematology, American Thoracic Society, Society of Critical Care Medicine, and American Academy of Neurology.

Education and Professional Development

Educational programs include continuing professional development accredited in coordination with Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education and postgraduate residency training aligned with American Society of Health-System Pharmacists residency standards and Residency Review Committee practices. The group offers workshops drawing faculty from University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, Purdue University College of Pharmacy, and University of Illinois Chicago and partners with fellowship programs funded by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and National Institutes of Health. Collaborative curricula have been developed with clinical educators from Duke University School of Medicine, University of Washington School of Pharmacy, and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Research, Publications, and Guidelines

The college promotes research published in journals and monographs alongside publishers and societies such as American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. It issues guidelines and position papers drawing on methodologies from Cochrane Collaboration and coordinates consensus statements with specialty societies including American College of Cardiology Foundation, European Society of Cardiology, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, and Infectious Diseases Society of America to influence therapeutic standards for conditions managed in settings like Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Mayo Clinic. Research networks involve collaborations with Clinical and Translational Science Awards hubs at University of Pennsylvania, University of California, Los Angeles, and University of Colorado.

Advocacy and Policy Initiatives

Advocacy efforts have engaged lawmakers and agencies including United States Congress, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and state legislatures to address scopes of practice, reimbursement, and public health responses similar to collaborations with American Medical Association, National Governors Association, AARP, and Association of American Medical Colleges. Policy work has intersected with public health responses alongside Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, and programs from Health Resources and Services Administration addressing opioid stewardship, antimicrobial resistance in partnership with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and vaccine policy with Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Awards and Recognition

The college confers awards and fellowships recognizing contributions akin to honors from National Institutes of Health grants, Fulbright Program, Rhodes Scholarship recipients, and professional awards parallel to those given by American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Foundation, Pharmacia, and national academies. Recipients often hold positions at Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University, Mayo Clinic, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and University of Michigan and have been honored alongside peers from organizations such as National Academy of Medicine, American College of Physicians, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

Category:Pharmacy organizations in the United States