Pharmacy Practice Consultant

Positions available: One (permanent, full-time)

Location: Field role based out of Edmonton (company vehicle is provided for work travel)

Territory: Edmonton and Northern Alberta 

Schedule: Monday to Friday

Reporting to the professional practice director, the pharmacy practice consultant (PPC) will conduct assessments and inspections in accordance with the Health Professions Act (HPA) and the Pharmacy and Drug Act (PDA). Key responsibilities include assessing pharmacy operations and systems; educating licensees, pharmacy directors, pharmacy staff, and proprietors through consultations to ensure safe, effective, and responsible pharmacy practice; and developing and implementing educational programs and tools to promote quality assurance and quality improvement initiatives.

Key responsibilities

Perform practice and operations assessments and inspections with pharmacy teams to ensure compliance with legislation, ACP standards, and the Code of Ethics, and develop practice change goals to address deficiencies.

Develop an effective pharmacy practice consultation plan, including efficient scheduling of consultations according to segmentation of pharmacy performance.

Provide pharmacy consultations, which include:

conducting assessments and inspections of pharmacy practice and operations to ensure compliance with legislation and ACP standards;

documenting assessment and inspection findings through written reports;

identifying and evaluating sources, events, and trends within the pharmacy practice that may negatively affect quality practice, such as operational systems, human resources, and the general practice environment;

reporting to the Professional Practice Director any events, occurrences, sources, and trends in pharmacies that may affect quality practice;

promoting a culture of patient safety and continuous quality improvement by educating licensees, their pharmacy staff, and management teams, regarding legislation, ACP standards, and best practices or guidelines; and

collaborating with licensees and pharmacy staff on developing practice change goals that address areas of improvement identified through the assessment of the pharmacy.

Use reporting tools to monitor achievement of practice change goals.

Facilitate informal training sessions and/or seminars for licensees or students on pharmacy practice.

Champion practice improvement by developing and implementing educational programs and practice tools with the professional practice director.

Collaborate proactively with the ACP team as well as a variety of stakeholders in healthcare and other disciplines to achieve ACP’s mission and goals.

Respond to inquiries from the public and registrants in an efficient and effective manner.

Create, capture, and retain documents (electronic and hard copy) as per records management policy.

About you

You’re a passionate and innovative change agent, coach, and mentor. You have a knack for connecting quickly and easily with new people and understand the art of leading by influence rather than authority. You are skilled at getting individuals, teams, and an entire organization to perform at a higher level and to embrace change.

You communicate a compelling vision and know that adjusting your message to suit the audience is key to buy-in. You listen attentively to understand, negotiate skillfully to promote a common cause, value tact and diplomacy in all your communications, and comfortably confront and work through conflict.

You possess excellent knowledge of pharmacy practice and professional standards and guidelines.

You have a strong interest in quality assurance and quality improvement programs with an educational focus.

You have strong planning and organizational skills and are able to quickly separate the mission-critical from the nice-to-have and the trivial.

You're self-motivated and able to work independently.

You're analytical and an excellent problem-solver, good at determining how to measure and track progress.

You’re able to identify causes, gather and process relevant information, generate possible solutions, and make recommendations, often in ambiguous and changing situations.

You’re always looking for incremental process improvement.

You’re a team player who facilitates a collaborative environment when working with and engaging others.

Qualifications

Experience and skills required for the pharmacy practice consultant role include

completion of a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy or PharmD;

eligibility for registration on the clinical register of the Alberta College of Pharmacy;

at least five years’ experience in pharmacy practice;

experience in a supervisory or management role;

additional prescribing authorization; and

a valid Alberta driver's licence and a satisfactory driving record.

Assets for the role include

knowledge of and experience in sterile compounding; and

experience in patient safety, quality assurance, root-cause analysis, training, and education.

Experience as a pharmacy licensee is strongly recommended. 

An equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.

About us 

The Alberta College of Pharmacy (ACP) is the regulatory body for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and licensed pharmacies in Alberta. We are responsible for quality pharmacy care through developing and enforcing pharmacy practice standards and guidelines. We also ensure only qualified pharmacy professionals are licensed and that all pharmacies provide a practice environment that supports quality practice and patient safety. It’s a big responsibility.

ACP is a global leader in the advancement of pharmacy practice. Alberta’s pharmacists have the broadest scope of practice in North America. You could say ACP is a trailblazer. Our team members are collaborative, thoughtful, respectful, encouraging, and committed to quality. In fact, that’s our team charter, which was created by our team members. ACP offers competitive compensation and benefits.

How to apply

Along with your resume, please submit a cover letter outlining why you’re interested in the opportunity and how your work experience has prepared you to succeed in the role. Cover letters can be addressed to Human Resources. Submissions without a cover letter will not be considered. We thank all applicants for their interest in working at ACP; however, only those selected for a phone screen will be contacted.