Professor Ian Doyle Joins Oregon Board of Pharmacy
Dr. Ian Doyle has been named to the Oregon Board of Pharmacy, where he looks forward to helping achieve strategic priorities encompassing technicians, technology, licensing, regulation and communication. He shares his perspective on his role on the board and the future of pharmacy practice:
What made you want to serve as a Board Member to the Oregon Board of Pharmacy?
My interest to serve the Board of Pharmacy is multifactorial. Performing service for our school, university, and the pharmacy community is of vital importance to me. I been fortunate to contribute to our inter-professional community and to the enrichment of faculty experiences, having been elected College of Health Professions Faculty Chair (2017-2019) and University Faculty Chair (2019-2020). I have had the honor to serve as OSHP President (2012-2013) and on the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Council, using these as a vehicle for professional advocacy in Oregon. These experiences have engendered a natural progression for my desire to serve the Oregon public at large. I value greatly the opportunity to contribute to the continued evaluation and development of high standards for the practice of pharmacy and regulations for the quality, manufacture, sale, and distribution of drugs in order to benefit the lives of Oregonians.
As an educator for one of two schools/colleges of pharmacy in Oregon, I can serve the board as a referent for alignment of its promulgation of pharmacy regulation with that of academic programming development. And vice versa, as I have transitioned my teaching focus this year from clinical sciences to pharmacy law, my experiences with the board will better my instruction of law for our student pharmacists.
What do you hope to achieve as a board member?
The Oregon Board of Pharmacy serves to promote and protect public health, safety, and welfare by ensuring high standards in the practice of pharmacy and through effective regulation. I aim to help the board achieve their 2020-2024 strategic priorities which encompass technicians, technology, licensing, regulation, and communication. When conducting board work, I think to myself, “What is it that I can contribute to the development and advancement of pharmacy regulation that benefits public health and well-being?” I believe significant contributors to affect this will be reenvisaging the role of technicians, which in turns enables pharmacists to work at the top of their scope of practice; and improving safe medication access to rural and underserved areas.
What do you see the future of pharmacy practice would look like in 10 years?
My board service encompasses ensuring high standards in the practice of pharmacy. That practice, I anticipate, will become more diverse and will increase pharmacist prescriptive authority via larger number of pharmacy protocols written by the Public Health & Pharmacy Formulary Advisory Committee and enacted by the board. I envision that technology will be used to expand storage and accessibility of prescription medications to the public beyond that of the pharmacy counter. COVID-19 has helped us reimagine work spaces and advance telemedicine services. That door ajar will be opened much further in the near future.