CPNP Foundation enjoys recognizing donors who exemplify the values of the Foundation through their dedication to evidence-based care, commitment to meeting the needs of patients living with psychiatric and neurologic disorders and their families, and through their sustained support. In this issue of Kaleidoscope, we feature Dr. Joan (Joni) Fowler. The CPNP Foundation Board of Directors sincerely thanks Dr. Fowler for her ongoing commitment to the Foundation’s mission.
Dr. Fowler is President and Owner of Creative Educational Concepts, Inc. She received her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degree from Tennessee Technological University and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Tennessee. She has over ten years of experience in direct patient care in the Veterans Affairs system in Memphis and Lexington, where she provided education to practitioners on new medications, devices, and procedures in the geriatric and psychiatric population in order to efficiently improve patient care. In 2000, she formed a private corporation that develops educational design, innovative delivery formats, and clinical content for all healthcare audiences on a wide variety of topics, including neurology, psychiatry, cardiology, asthma/COPD, and oncology.
When asked what led her to pursue neuropsychiatric pharmacy as a career, she stated that as a PharmD student she worked at the VAMC in Memphis, TN. She was comfortable in that setting and felt a sense of purpose serving the veteran population. She said “I valued the neuropsychiatric clinical mentoring of Dr. Barbara Wells (at that time a faculty member at University of Tennessee) and others in this therapeutic area. I enjoyed working with veterans so much, I took one of the initial clinical positions at the Lexington VA and expanded into psychiatry after establishing the geriatric pharmacy practice at that facility.”
When discussing the Foundation’s initiatives and which one most motivates her, she said “All of the work of the CPNP Foundation is important. Reducing stigma is critical to ensuring access to care. I particularly appreciate the effort to support students and those who are in early stages of practice as I recall the struggle to attend national meetings and the invaluable networking I experienced once there.”
In discussing why she financially support the Foundation, she reminisced about her past. She said “I sat for the BCPP exam at its first offering in 1996. It was a lonely existence at that point with few other psychiatric pharmacy specialists in my whole state. The colleagues and network I found in CPNP were tremendously helpful to me to ensure I was optimizing my role to the fullest, providing excellent clinical care, and helping to share cutting-edge psychopharmacology with my mental health colleagues.”
Dr. Fowler is passionate about CPNP Foundation, stating “In order for CPNP to maintain a strong presence, the CPNP Foundation must become strong and create a legacy for those who come behind us. If everyone in the BCPP Class of 1996 would make an estate gift (large or small), it would ensure viability for the next generation of neuropsychiatric pharmacy specialists.”