Survey of health-system pharmacy leadership pathways

Purpose. The results of a survey comparing the similarities and differences in health-system pharmacy leadership pathways are reported. Methods. The link to an online questionnaire was e-mailed to pharmacy leaders subscribing to ASHP's Pharmacy Practice Manager listserver. All respondents were asked to provide their career pathway, their thoughts on the most valued skill sets to a health-system pharmacy leader, and the influence that their leadership pathway had on these skill sets. Pharmacy middle managers were asked if they desired to become a health-system pharmacy director, and pharmacy directors were asked to provide their hiring preferences for new health-system pharmacy leaders. Results. Two-hundred-five individuals responded to the survey. On-the-job experience (40%) was identified as the most common leadership pathway of current health-system pharmacy leaders. Respondents classified medication-use policy (26%), human resource management (20%), and interpersonal skills (18%) as the most valued skill sets to a health-system pharmacy leader. Residency and degree programs were most thought to prepare future health-system pharmacy leaders for interpersonal relations, ethical decision-making, and finance and budget management. Sixty percent of eligible respondents stated that they were interested in seeking health-system pharmacy director positions. The majority of director of pharmacy respondents stated that they preferred to hire leaders with previous on-the-job experience. Conclusion. On-the-job-experience was identified as the most common leadership pathway by survey respondents. Medication-use policy, human resource management, and interpersonal skills were identified by respondents as the most valued skill sets to a health-system pharmacy leader.