McPherson Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr. Mary Lynn McPherson was selected for the W. Arthur Purdum Lifetime Achievement Award from the Maryland Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists.

By Alisa Stapleton
November 16, 2006

Dr. Mary Lynn McPherson, Pharm.D., BPCS, CDE, was selected for the W. Arthur Purdum Lifetime Achievement Award from the Maryland Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists.

McPherson is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science. She serves as a consultant pharmacist for both local and national hospice and palliative care programs, and has designed a critical thinking process for appropriate drug use in end of life patients. She serves on the Board of the Hospice Network of Maryland, chairing the Education and Outreach Committee. She also serves on the Board of the Maryland Pain Initiative and the Advisory Board of the American Society of Pain Educators.

Dr. McPherson teaches extensively in the Pharm.D. curriculum on pain management and end of life care, including didactic and experiential content. McPherson also serves as a primary care pharmacist and Director of Pharmacotherapy Services at UniversityCare Waxter in Baltimore. She also developed one of the first and few palliative care pharmacy residencies in the U.S. McPherson is a Fellow in the American Pharmacists Association, American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists and American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. She has received many honors for her work, including the American Pharmacists Association Distinguished Achievement Award in Specialized Practice and the Maryland Pharmacists Association Innovative Practice Award. She has written three books, and many chapters and peer-reviewed articles on pain management, palliative care, and other topics.

The Purdum Lifetime Achievement Award is the society’s highest award designed to recognize an individual who has made significant or sustained contributions in or for health system pharmacy or has provided influential leadership in the practice of health system pharmacy at the state level.

Dr. McPherson will receive the award January 18, 2007 at the MSHP meeting, Union Memorial Hospital.