Mary Beth O’Connell presented with MPA’s Fred W. Arnold Public Relations Award

Mary Beth O'Connell

Wayne State University Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Professor of Pharmacy Practice Mary Beth O’Connell will receive the Michigan Pharmacists Association (MPA) Fred W. Arnold Public Relations Award during the Association’s virtual Annual Convention & Exposition, held Feb. 26-27.

The Fred W. Arnold Public Relations Award, sponsored by Michigan Pharmacy Foundation, is presented annually to an MPA member or team of MPA members who have shown outstanding achievement and dedication to the pharmacy profession through community education and awareness.

O'Connell, Pharm.D., BCPS, FASHP, FCCP, FNAP, AGSF, has dedicated her time throughout her career to promoting the work of pharmacists and what the profession can bring to all aspects of health care services.

O’Connell received her B.S. in pharmacy from Wayne State University and her PharmD degree from the University of Minnesota. She completed an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) residency at Harper Hospital in Detroit and completed a fellowship in pharmacokinetics, nephrology and transplant at the Drug Evaluation Unit, Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. She is a fellow of ASHP, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, the National Academy of Practice and the American Geriatric Society.

Her current teaching responsibilities include women’s and men’s health pharmacotherapy, cultural sensitivity, social and administrative sciences, and interprofessional education. She has received numerous teaching awards and has practiced in interdisciplinary geriatric clinics and on general medicine, nephrology, geriatric and critical care hospital services. O‘Connell has given many national presentations on osteoporosis, geriatric and women’s health pharmacotherapy and teaching.

O’Connell is active with many pharmacy and medical organizations. She is past president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and the Minnesota Society of Health-System Pharmacists. She is an editor and reviewer for pharmacy and medical journals, including the only women’s health pharmacy textbook. She is a past member of the National Institute of Health’s Office of Women’s Health Advisory Board, among other organizations and committees.

O’Connell is most proud of her advocacy work to help change federal and state laws to allow pharmacists to provide and charge for direct patient care through legislative rulings and/or collaborative practice agreements, as well as her work as an editor on the first pharmacotherapy textbook on women's health.

The Michigan Pharmacists Association (MPA) is the state professional society serving Michigan’s pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and student pharmacists in all settings of practices. For more than 135 years, MPA has strived to provide its members with the tools, resources and support needed to advance the profession of pharmacy and provide quality patient care.

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