Regardless of a faculty member's career stage, effective mentoring is critical for successful professional development and a thriving academic career. Traditional mentor-mentee relationships can be effective, but may present challenges for some faculty depending on their individual needs and institutional resources. The use of peer mentoring circles, where group members serve as both mentor and mentee, may provide additional resources and benefits to faculty at all career stages and appear especially beneficial for women faculty due to their focus on interconnectedness and collaboration. However, literature is scarce regarding effective mentoring strategies for women pharmacy faculty. As members of one women faculty-only peer mentoring circle, we describe our experiences using this mentoring strategy and offer recommendations for other faculty members considering this approach.
When COVID-19 shuttered schools across the nation, it propelled higher education institutions into uncharted territories. Institutions had to make rapid decisions in a short period of time with limited information or direction. In these uncertain and challenging times, members of the academy reached out to one another to discuss, share, and learn from one another. What began with a few members of the Student Services Personnel Special Interest Group (SIG) grew to many members who banded together through open discussions to utilize a team approach to innovative problem-solving. Working together through open discussions created a setting that promoted diverse ideas, multiple perspectives, and a depth of knowledge to address some of the most challenging issues pharmacy education has had to overcome. When partnering together, institutions had a much greater resource of knowledge and support that could be leveraged to broadly benefit the academy.
As pharmacy programs use holistic approaches to admissions, changes will emerge in the quantity and quality of the student applicant pool. Several programs have stopped the Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT) requirement, modified pre-requisite coursework, and reduced minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) requirements. In alignment with their unique mission, values, and vision statements, programs have also expanded aspects of their application and review process to increasingly focus on leadership skills, community service, teamwork, collaboration, and paid and volunteer experiences beyond academic performance emphasizing skills and affective domain areas aligned with the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards and the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Outcomes. Herein, we will discuss how pharmacy schools and colleges can refine their admissions interview processes in alignment with their unique curricular and programmatic niche areas of distinction.
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