Artificial intelligence, “authentic interaction” will guide future pharmacists, speaker tells graduating Class of 2018
BY GREG WEATHERFORD
Director of Communications, VCU School of Pharmacy
Pharmacists of the future will need to understand artificial intelligence, “augmented intelligence” and the growth of interconnected data systems, the head of the nation’s largest pharmacy-education association told the graduating School of Pharmacy Class of 2018.
“There is no doubt that the diagnostic and therapeutic processes and research of pharmacy will be forever changed by the advent of artificial intelligence and big data,” said Lucinda Maine, executive vice president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, in her convocation speech.
Artificial and augmented intelligence are not the only aspects of “A.I.” the students must keep in mind as they move through their careers, Maine added: Another is “authentic interaction” — the vital human touch pharmacists should use with patients, clients and colleagues.
About 800 graduating students, faculty and guests packed the auditorium of St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Henrico County near Richmond on Friday for the 2018 Hooding and Diploma ceremony, which opened with a soaring rendition of the national anthem sung by graduating Pharm.D. Kailey Conner. Dean Joseph T. DiPiro then welcomed the assembly.
This year’s ceremony included the announcement of annual student and teacher awards. Previous years’ awards had been announced at an annual banquet, but by student request the announcements were moved to the graduation ceremony.
Among the awards granted were the Research Award, presented to Crystal Leibrand; the Academic Excellence Award, presented to Katherine Ciampa; and the Dean’s Award, which includes a $2,500 prize, presented to Adrienne Simmons. A full list of the annual student awards can be found here. The annual teaching award went to Phillip Gerk, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics.
Following the awards, the 131 Pharm.D. students and 22 Ph.D. and master’s students received their hoods or diplomas.
Pharmacy professor and VCU alumna Leigh Anne Gravatt, Pharm.D., led the new pharmacists in the Oath of a Pharmacist, which concludes: “I will utilize my knowledge, skills, experiences and values to prepare the next generation of pharmacists.”
Of the 52 graduating Pharm.D. students who are going on to postgraduate pharmacy and training experience, 56 percent — 29 — will remain in Virginia.
The VCU School of Pharmacy was founded in 1898 as part of the Medical College of Virginia. It ranks among the top 20 pharmacy schools in the United States. — Greg Weatherford
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