School of Pharmacy Alum Leads CSHP into a New Era

Elaine Law began participating in professional pharmacy organizations shortly after earning her PharmD degree from UCSF in 2008. When she noticed that she was one of the few in her age group, she set out to change that trend.

While completing her residency in 2009, Law joined the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (CSHP) Golden Gate Chapter and helped form a new committee focused on cultivating participation and leadership among young pharmacists.

Today, Law is celebrating this year’s National Pharmacist Day by becoming president of the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Her dedication to the next generation of pharmacists will be a theme of her three-year term, just as it has been a driving force in her work as an experiential educator, finding unique clinical opportunities for learners in her cohorts.

“I work with students very closely, and that’s why I felt compelled to be so involved. It’s particularly important for me and my colleagues to be part of these organizations, to be an example to students,” said Law, associate clinical professor of pharmacy practice and regional coordinator for San Jose at the University of the Pacific. “It empowers them and shows them what is possible.”

Diversity of experience

Law didn’t always see leadership as her path. When she co-founded CSHP’s first New Practitioners Executive Committee in 2011, she was asked to be the committee’s chair after successfully advocating for a bylaw change to ensure new practitioners had a voting seat on the board of directors.

“At that time, there wasn’t that much recognition for new practitioners,” she said. “But my philosophy was that it’s not about youth or experience, it’s about diversity and what you want to bring to the table.”

Law also has been active with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), working on policy development and continuing to serve on national advisory committees supporting preceptors and advocating for diversity and inclusion in recruiting.

She joined CSHP’s board of directors from 2016 to 2018, taking a break from the organization to focus on students and their rotations, especially when COVID-19 struck. At CSHP’s annual meeting in 2023, UCSF Professor Emeritus Don Kishi, PharmD, asked her why she wasn’t running for CSHP president, and this question reignited her passion for engaging young members.

Future challenges for pharmacy

One goal of Law’s CSHP presidency is to redefine what leadership and membership in professional organizations mean to a new generation.

“My students’ life experiences are very different than mine, and they provide a lot of value to what our profession needs at this time,” she said. “I always tell them that what they’re learning now is going to be very different in 10, 15, 25 years. We have to realize that the profession evolves very quickly. We all have to learn continuously and be very flexible.”

Law recalls the pivot that turned her attention to a career in pharmacy. As a molecular cell developmental biology major in undergrad, she initially thought she would go to law school and work in biotech. Her experience as a teaching assistant and tutor changed her mind, and an introduction to the Pre-Pharmacy Society in her third year as an undergrad helped her realize she could continue being a teacher — as a pharmacist.

“As a pharmacist, you’re an educator for so many different types of people — your patients, the nurses, the doctors and other pharmacists — and you have to relay the same information in very different ways. I thought that was interesting and also very challenging,” she said. “Pharmacists have always had to prove their value, but on interdisciplinary teams, our voice is always heard.”

The new networking

Law said her best advice to the next generation of pharmacists would be to always listen and talk with colleagues. Law herself stays at the forefront of clinical practice as a consultant for Lexicomp (UpToDate/Lexidrug), a drug information database, reviewing material to understand relevance to current clinical practices.

“I still talk to a lot of my mentors, and I’m very much a collaborator,” she said, adding that having a sounding board is crucial to aligning her organizational priorities with the pharmacy community.

She said young pharmacists should always talk with their employers as well, noting that she was sure to get buy-in from UCSF Medical Center leadership before taking on the New Practitioners initiative, and similarly got support from University of the Pacific faculty before running for CSHP president.

“Nobody is prepared to be the president of CSHP, and nobody is prepared to be the first new practitioner on the board,” she said. “You just have to be willing to learn and embrace the unexpected.”