HOPA Publications Committee

Christan M. Thomas, PharmD, BCOP, Editor

Lisa Cordes, PharmD, BCOP, BCACP, Associate Editor

Renee McAlister, PharmD BCOP, Associate Editor

Lydia Benitez, PharmD, BCOP

Alexandra Della Pia, PharmD, MBA, BCOP

Jeff Engle, PharmD, MS

Karen M. Fancher, PharmD, BCOP

Chung-Shien Lee, PharmD, BCOP, BCPS

Robert Steven Mancini, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA

Bernard L. Marini, PharmD, BCOP

Alan L. Myers, PharmD, PhD

Gregory T. Sneed, PharmD

Diana Tamer, PharmD, BCOP

Kristin Held Wheatley, PharmD, BCOP

HOPA News Staff

David DeRemer, PharmD, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA, Board Liaison

Michelle Sieg, Communications Director

Joan Dadian, Marketing Manager

View PDF of HOPA News, Vol. 19, no. 1

Board Update: Moving HOPA Forward with an Abundance Mentality

Larry Buie, PharmD, BCOP, FASHP
HOPA President (2021–2022)
Manager, Clinical Pharmacy Practice
PGY2 Residency Program Director, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY

Our vision is so simple, that all patients with cancer will have an oncology pharmacist as an integral member of their care team. Collectively, we support pharmacy practitioners and promote and advance hematology/oncology pharmacy to optimize the care of individuals affected by cancer. However, achieving our mission and vision are complicated if we don’t approach it with an abundance mentality.

You may ask yourself what is an abundance mentality? For me, it means that we dream big and outside the box. We are focused on moving our organization and our profession forward. This encourages us to plan strategically, to embrace change, and seize opportunities. With an abundance mentality, we move forward with positivity and optimism. We take risks with the belief that we will make mistakes, we will learn from them, and we will be better for it. Together, we are stronger.

An Abundance Mentality Comes to Fruition
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We have formed a DEI Task Force to put the spotlight on our DEI initiatives. This group has published a DEI statement and made recommendations to the HOPA Board of Directors that span all of our strategic pillars (professional development, professional resources and tools, research, and advocacy), as well as leadership development, and governance. Perhaps most importantly, the task force helps create a culture where it is safe – and expected – to have conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Change takes time and we know we have a continued need for a DEI lens moving forward. Therefore the DEI task force will be converted to a standing committee.

Collaborative Research. HOPA’s Oral Chemotherapy Collaborative (OCC) provides a collaborative research framework that promotes oral chemotherapy best practices across all four HOPA councils to improve the quality of care for our patients. To learn more about the OCC and their goals, look for related sessions at our upcoming Annual Conference and be on the lookout for additional opportunities with the ASCO Quality Training Program.

Amplifying the Patient Voice. This year we created HOPA’s first Patient Advisory Panel. The panel is charged with providing the patient perspective across all HOPA initiatives and we were fortunate to have panel participation at our fall Hill Day. HOPA is also currently redesigning our website for an enhanced patient experience.

Expanding our Reach. At HOPA, we believe that we should be the professional home to all pharmacists that are taking care of oncology patients. This begins by engaging our student members and teaching them about all that HOPA has to offer. Our student engagement task force was formed and recommended that a National Student Group Committee be created. We are so excited to bring the student voice to HOPA!

Mitigating Pharmacist Burnout. At last year’s annual conference Allison Golbach’s research revealed that >60% of oncology pharmacists were experiencing burnout. The study also detailed consequences of burnout, including increased risk of making medication errors. HOPA is dedicated to working towards solutions that will support our membership and has engaged a consultant to help us identify ways to support pharmacists experiencing burnout and to prevent burnout where we can.

Annual Conference: A HOPA Reunion in Boston!
A year has already come and gone and by the time you see this in print, I may be introducing your new HOPA President, Heidi Finnes, at our in-person annual conference in Boston! It is hard to believe that it has been nearly two years since we have been able to be together in person. The lineup of science and networking is too great for me to preview in full in this letter but here are a few anticipated highlights:

• John G. Kuhn Keynote Address “Bite-Sized Well-Being During Times of Uncertainty,” presented by J. Bryan Sexton, PhD will address healthcare worker burnout and evidence-based approaches to reduce it.
• The session, “Optimizing Care for Patients Taking Oral Anti-Cancer Agents: How HOPA’s OCC is Moving Practice Forward” will demonstrate the OCC’s collaborative framework.
• The first-ever HOPA DEI Award will be presented to Maurice Alexander and Britny Brown, the Chair and Vice-Chair of HOPA’s DEI Task Force.

I have been privileged to serve as President of HOPA, and I began and will end this journey with gratitude. Gratitude for the amazing care you provide our cancer patients. Gratitude for the opportunity to work alongside an amazing Board of Directors. Gratitude for our volunteers - moving our organization forward with an abundance mentality. We are all winning together!