Humility and healing: My experience at the APhA Institute
Kate France is a third-year PharmD candidate at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.
“Each of these values on this chart represents exactly that—a life that once held value. Every overdose is one too many and means that someone out there is losing someone they love.” These are the paraphrased words of Laura Palombi, PharmD, MPH, professor at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, from a talk about her work addressing the substance use disorder (SUD) epidemic that I heard while I was still an undergraduate student. I will never forget the experience of explaining to her that those dots on her graphs were from my hometown, and that not only could I put a name to three of them, but I could also describe the impact their losses had on my small, rural community. Dr. Palombi’s work is a huge inspiration for me, and it’s a big part of why I pursued pharmacy as a career. I now work to specialize in supporting those with diverse mental health needs and SUDs.
This year, I was honored to be a 2023 Ronald L. Williams Memorial Fund recipient, and as such attended the APhA Institute on Substance Use Disorders in Salt Lake City this past June. I cannot recommend attending the APhA Institute strongly enough! I went by myself, but from the moment I arrived, I felt supported and loved. I was fortunate enough to become friends with two other “rockstar” student pharmacists who also came by themselves. Together, we learned from incredible speakers about topics such as naloxone access, the biochemistry of SUD, and what we could do to make the world a better, more accepting place.
Messages of hope
While the sessions were informative and enlightening, by far my favorite part was attending the Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Al-Anon open meetings. Being a part of the 12-Step meetings and listening to the stories folks had to share in a setting of such love and support was truly something I will treasure forever. I won’t get into specific details out of respect for the privacy upheld by these spaces, but suffice it to say that they were incredibly moving, deeply touching, and one of the most impactful parts of the whole week. Seeing other pharmacists, especially the older self-described “dinosaurs” who continue to come back and support the new generations of pharmacists, gave me so much hope for the future.
I appreciated learning in detail about the pathophysiology of the disease, the mechanisms of action, and the hard science of it all, yet the most meaningful and revolutionary parts to me were the stories people told—stories of some dark places and bad choices, but above all messages of hope and healing. It was a resounding statement that recovery is not only possible, but also probable. Hearing the three C’s for the first time—that I didn’t cause it, I can’t cure it, and I can’t control it—shifted my worldview and has greatly influenced my life and practice.
Putting strategies into action
It is through these combined experiences that I plan to bring this knowledge and information to the small, critical-access hospital where I work in Mora, MN. In doing so, I plan to expand our naloxone access, educate more clinicians in our facility on how to provide appropriate and compassionate care for those with diverse mental health needs and concurrent SUDs and be a better advocate for our patients experiencing SUDs.
I plan to continue attending the APhA Institute in the future and to educate not only myself, but the colleagues and peers who will join me in the future. Together, we can continuously learn best practices and implement them into the facilities and settings of our future places of employment, and through our efforts provide better, more equitable care to all our patients with diverse mental health needs and SUDs.
I cannot wait until next year’s conference, for all the incredible sessions, wonderful people, and stories of hope.
For more information about the APhA Institute, visit https://aphainstitute.pharmacist.com.