The UA College of Pharmacy has just added another notch on its post of faculty with distinguished honors, with the election of its associate dean of academic and professional affairs, Dr. John Murphy, as president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

As president of the ACCP, Murphy will lead an organization of approximately 10,000 clinical pharmacists while also continuing his work with the UA.

Murphy said although the position will require him to work more, “”The opportunity to work with dedicated individuals in an attempt to improve the lives and conditions of others truly provides great returns.””

“”The extra work yields so much that it is hardly noticed,”” Murphy said.

“”(Murphy) is helping to promote the profession at a time when we desperately need more pharmacists,”” said Karin Lorentzen, communications coordinator for the College of Pharmacy.

Lyle Bootman, the college’s dean, said that because of Arizona’s aging population, the demand for pharmacists is high.

“”There is … an extreme shortage of pharmacists, especially in a fast-growing state like Arizona,”” Bootman said.

Murphy said there is a high burden on writing prescriptions, both due to the fact that “”baby boomers are reaching the point of high medication use”” and that there are a lot of new drugs being discovered and promoted.

Writing prescriptions is not the only concern, however. “”There are many opportunities to serve patients better, but we don’t have time,”” Murphy said.

Murphy said he is working to “”pursue payment for direct patient care services”” not only for dispensing medication but also rendering services like counseling, medication monitoring and preventative care, Murphy said.

He is also working to promote pharmacogenomics, a branch of pharmacology that focuses on prescribing personalized medication, Murphy said. This enables pharmacists to find “”who (the medication) works best for”” with the fewest adverse effects, he said.

Murphy’s election to the ACCP is an “”indicator that the college is among the highest ranked in the world,”” Bootman said. “”For the past 20 years, someone (from the College of Pharmacy) has been an officer of a national or international professional health-related association.””

Health care is one of the top three priorities of President-elect Barack Obama’s administration, and “”they will be looking to the John Murphys for guidance,”” Bootman said.

“”(Murphy) is a highly developed problem-solver and innovator,”” but students are always the first thing on his mind, Bootman said. “”He serves as a role model for students”” who want to serve their profession by becoming leaders in their profession, he said.

“”I think it is invaluable for students to realize that their faculty serves the public, so students learn to serve as well,”” Murphy said.