President’s Report – Achieving our Mission
Pharmacy Technicians are essential health professionals who have a defined set of skills that positively impact patients and pharmacy practice. This statement reflects why PTSA exists. In support of this, PTSA has a mission to advocate for the profession, educate others on the pharmacy technician’s scope of practice and provide professional development opportunities for members. But in order to do this we need a plan of action!
For the past two years, the board has been working to refresh the PTSA strategic plan. In May 2016, the board identified four goals to enable the Society in meeting its mission:
- Integrate Pharmacy Technicians into Practice
- Engage Technicians
- Provide Continuing Education
- Influence Political Issues
Once the goals were identified, they were introduced to the membership at the 2016 Annual General Meeting to see if they resonated with you. We heard that having access to quality continuing education opportunities was very important and that there may not be enough opportunities already available to fulfill the needs of pharmacy technicians in different practice settings. It was also clear that while many technicians are still trying to find opportunities to work to full scope of practice, others are ready to see our scope expand even further to include things like administering injections. We heard loud and clear that we need to help ensure the pharmacy technician’s role is understood and have more foresight in terms of where we want the profession to develop.
Before we could go any further we needed to review what we have achieved so far and assess current state. In June 2017, the board came together once again for that purpose and began identifying and prioritizing the objectives that would help us achieve the four goals. We considered what we were hearing from pharmacy technicians across the province as well as the current environment including what the profession in Alberta will look like in 10 years. You can read more about that vision here.
The result of all that work is a plan that outlines the things the board will prioritize over the next few years in order to achieve our goals. Having a strategy not only helps align the Society’s work with a meaningful purpose – it helps us focus on the things that are important to pharmacy technicians.
Read the PTSA Strategic Plan by clicking here.
What strategy is most important to you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.