News

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Kelly Gable, PharmD, has been appointed as a specialist member to the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) Council on Psychiatric Pharmacy. Gable is an associate professor in the SIUE School of Pharmacy’s (SOP) Department of Pharmacy Practice.

Gable was the first psychiatric pharmacist to be granted provider status by the Missouri Department of Mental Health in 2014. At that time, she was the only pharmacist in Missouri authorized to function as a psychiatric provider on community mental health teams.

“Becoming board certified in psychiatric pharmacy has been incredibly valuable throughout my career, and it is truly an honor to be viewed as knowledgeable, skillful and experienced enough to serve on the specialty council within Psychiatric Pharmacy,” Gable said.

“The appointment of Dr. Gable to the BPS Council as a specialist practitioner is an appropriate recognition of her achievements in the area of psychiatric pharmacy,” said Gireesh Gupchup, dean of the SIUE SOP. “She has always been an innovator, and she will be an asset to the BPS Council.”

BPS was established in 1976 as an autonomous division of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). The BPS mission is to improve patient care and increase awareness of the need for BPS Board Certified Pharmacists as integral members of multidisciplinary healthcare teams through recognition and promotion of specialized training, knowledge, and skills in pharmacy and specialty board certification and recertification of pharmacists throughout the world.

The BPS Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP) program is a credential for pharmacists who have met the necessary eligibility criteria and who provide person-centered care that ensures the safe, appropriate, evidence-based and cost-effective use of medications in the treatment of persons with mental illness.

The purpose of the BCPP program is to validate that the pharmacist has the advanced knowledge and experience to optimize outcomes and recovery for patients with mental illness by:

• Designing, implementing, monitoring and modifying treatment plans for patients
• Educating patients, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders.
• Providing leadership in the health system and public policy to improve the health of persons with mental illness

Gable was the recipient of the annual SIUE Teaching Excellence Award for tenure-track faculty in 2014. It is the most prestigious teaching award that a faculty member can receive at SIUE.

Photo:  Kelly Gable, PharmD, BCPP, associate professor in the SIUE School of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmacy Practice.