Board of Directors Profile: Ann Jankiewicz, President

by Nora Flint, Pharm.D., BCPS, FASHP Director Marketing Affairs
June 5, 2008

This is the first in a series of articles that will describe the path by which selected members of the ICHP Board of Directors found their way to membership on the Board. It seems fitting to start with the current President, Ann Jankiewicz.

Ann started working at Rush University Medical Center as a student, prior to graduating from UIC College of Pharmacy. It was through a chance meeting with Paul Pierpaoli (former Rush Director of Pharmacy) at a pharmacy student function that led to her start at Rush. After graduating with her BS in Pharmacy, Ann continued as a staff pharmacist at Rush. During Ann’s initial years of working at Rush, she sought out special projects and opportunities to grow professionally, and was fortunate to be mentored by some of the Clinical Specialists working at Rush at that time. This led to a project that resulted in a poster presented at an ASHP Annual meeting. She also obtained her Doctor of Pharmacy degree through UIC’s nontraditional program.

Eventually, Ann applied for and was given a Clinical Specialist position in Internal Medicine at Rush. For many years, she rounded with Internal Medicine and gained expertise in HIV therapy. Over the years, she precepted students and residents, became more and more involved in solving problems on the nursing unit with patient care activities and in the pharmacy satellite that she worked with. Before long, Ann was taking on management duties of the satellite, which led to her current position at Rush, a satellite manager for two adult medicine/surgery satellites.

Ann has been a member of ICHP for at least 20 years, initially only attending local meetings. But again, mentoring came into play when someone she respected (Andy Donnelly) suggested that she join the Educational Affairs Committee and run for a delegate position in NISHP. Ann admits that learning more about the House of Delegates and seeing other pharmacists with so much passion for pharmacy enticed her to want to be more involved in ICHP.

Ann’s next step within ICHP was to become Secretary for 3 years. Following this, she was approached to run for President of both ICHP and NISHP, but declined. Life was busy, both at work and at home, and she didn’t feel she had the time. Yet after a while, Ann missed being on the Board and hearing the issues discussed. She knew there was never going to be a time that was not busy for her, so it was then that she decided to run for President.

Some of the duties that Ann has as President are:
• Attending the ASHP state chapter president retreat
• Running the ICHP Board of Directors meeting
• Writing an article for each KeePosted
• Participating in monthly conference calls with the ICHP Executive Board and as needed conference calls with Scott Meyers
• Attending the Presidents’ dinner at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting

When I asked Ann what benefits she feels she gets from being so involved in ICHP, she told me the following: professional networking, personal friendships, the development of leadership skills, being able to mentor others, and feeling as though she is making an impact on the profession of pharmacy in the state of Illinois. If you want any of these fabulous opportunities in your life, then get more involved in ICHP now!

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