Cynthia Boyle Receives Good Government Pharmacist of the Year Award

Director of Experiential Learning Program Receives Honor from the American Pharmacists Association

By Becky Ceraul
March 28, 2008

The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) recently announced that Cynthia J. Boyle, PharmD, FAPhA, associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science and director of the Experiental Learning Program, is the recipient of the 2008 APhA Good Government Pharmacist-of-the-Year Award. The award was presented during APhA2008, the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition, in San Diego, California March 14-17.

Established in 1990, this award recognizes an individual pharmacist who actively contributes to the community through his or her voluntary involvement in the political process. Nominees must be active members of APhA, a state pharmacy association, and must have raised pharmacists’ awareness of the political process, improved the pharmacy profession and the political process, as well as improved service and education to the public. The award is sponsored by the APhA Political Action Committee (APhA-PAC) Board of Governors.

Former president of the Maryland Pharmacists Association, Boyle was selected in recognition of her contributions on behalf of the pharmacy profession which include lobbying for passage of a bill that expanded pharmacists’ scope of practice to include immunization in the state of Maryland. She is also a certified trainer for the APhA Pharmacy-Based Immunization Certificate Program which has expanded the number of certified pharmacists and has increased immunization opportunities for student pharmacists through experiential learning rotations. She is actively advocating for additional legislation that would increase pharmacists’ immunization opportunities.

A colleague described Boyle saying, “She has demonstrated that she is a passionate advocate for pharmacists and has been instrumental in changing legislation in Maryland to improve and expand the role of pharmacists in this state.”

Boyle, along with Robert S. Beardsley, PhD, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research at the School of Pharmacy, created a course for the School entitled Effective Leadership and Advocacy. The course goal is to prepare student pharmacists for the political process and to apply leadership skills and political advocacy to deal with the numerous issues facing health care. Since the course began in 2002, it has been adapted into the curriculum of three other colleges of pharmacy and is the basis for Leadership and Advocacy for Pharmacy, a 2007 APhA publication.

Boyle earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. She has served as president of Phi Lambda Sigma, the pharmacy leadership society.

The American Pharmacists Association, founded in 1852 as the American Pharmaceutical Association, represents more than 63,000 practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and others interested in advancing the profession. APhA, dedicated to helping all pharmacists improve medication use and advance patient care, is the first-established and largest association of pharmacists in the United States.