FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2017
Media Contacts:
Chad Clinton
Associate Director, Public Relations
American Pharmacists Association
(202) 429-7558
WASHINGTON, DC – The Alaska Pharmacists Association (AKPhA) has selected John McGilvray, PharmD, as the recipient of the 2017 Bowl of Hygeia Award for outstanding community service. McGilvray was presented the award at the 2017 Annual Convention Awards Reception on Saturday, February 11. The Bowl of Hygeia is sponsored by the American Pharmacists Association Foundation, the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, and the American Pharmacists Association, with support from Boehringer Ingelheim.
McGilvray has contributed to his community since graduating from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001. He started his 39-year pharmacy career as a community pharmacist in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1977. In 1983, McGilvray moved to Alaska and joined Carrs Pharmacy in Wasilla. He served as the pharmacy manager for almost two decades, except for a two-year interval during which he served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania. In 2002, he accepted a commission from the United States Public Health Service and began an assignment at Southcentral Foundation, Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. He has received numerous awards throughout his extensive career, is active in many professional associations, and volunteers his time to his community.
McGilvray currently serves as the Pharmacy & Therapeutics Coordinator for Southcentral Foundation Pharmacies and is the Director of Drug Information for the Pharmacy Residency Program. He has been a pharmacy student preceptor since 2004.
Established in 1958, the Bowl of Hygeia Award recognizes pharmacists who possess outstanding records of civic leadership in their communities and encourages pharmacists to take an active role in the affairs of their respective communities. The award is presented annually by participating state pharmacist associations, including those in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In addition to service through their local, state, and national pharmacy associations, award recipients have devoted their time, talent, and resources to a wide variety of causes and community service.
The Bowl of Hygeia is the most widely recognized international symbol for the pharmacy profession and is considered one of the profession’s most prestigious awards. The Bowl of Hygeia has been associated with the pharmacy profession since as early as 1796 when the symbol was used on a coin minted for the Parisian Society of Pharmacy. The bowl represents a medicinal potion and the snake represents healing. Healing through medicine is precisely why the pharmacy profession has adopted the Bowl of Hygeia symbol.
About the American Pharmacists Association Foundation The APhA Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., is a trusted source of research demonstrating how pharmacists can improve health care. The APhA Foundation’s mission is to improve people’s health through pharmacists’ patient care services. The APhA Foundation is affiliated with the American Pharmacists Association, the national professional society of pharmacists in the U.S. For more information, please visit the APhA Foundation website www.aphafoundation.org. Follow the APhA Foundation on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates. About the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations
The National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA) promotes leadership, sharing, learning, and policy exchange among pharmacy leaders in all 50 states and Washington, DC, and provides education and advocacy to support pharmacists, patients, and communities working together to improve public health. NASPA was founded in 1927 as the National Council of State Pharmacy Association Executives (NCSPAE). For more information, please visit the NASPA website www.naspa.us.