Shimomura Elected to National Board Position

WesternU faculty member Sam Shimomura, PharmD, has been named to a three-

year term on the board of directors for the American Society of Health

Systems Pharmacists (ASHP). He was elected to the position by the general

membership of the ASHP, which is comprised of 30,000 pharmacists

nationwide.

“”My passion is patients, students and the profession of pharmacy,”” Dr.

Shimomura said. “”My goal is to help make the health systems safer for

patients and improve the system through education.””

He has been a member of ASHP for close to 30 years and has served the

organization in several capacities. He was president of the California

chapter of the organization in 1989, and went on to serve at the national

level on educational and professional committees.

“”I think that being involved in the organization has helped to advance my

continuing education; I’m always learning new things from the meetings and

seminars that the group holds,”” Dr. Shimomura said.

Dr. Shimomura also serves as assistant dean for professional practice in

the College of Pharmacy at Western University of Health Sciences

(WesternU). He has been with WesternU since 1996, and his responsibilities

include setting up clerkship rotation schedules for third- and fourth-year

pharmacy students and coordinating the pharmacy continuing education

programs. The College will graduate its charter class of students in June.

“”I think the students we will graduate from WesternU’s College of Pharmacy

will be competent professionals who elevate the level of pharmacists in

the community,”” Dr. Shimomura said. “”They do an excellent job and

represent us well.””

He previously spent 27 years working for his alma mater, the School of

Pharmacy at UC San Francisco, and also has a volunteer faculty appointment

as a clinical professor for the College of Medicine at UC Irvine. In 1995

he was named Pharmacist of the Year by the California Society of ASHP and

in 1998 he received an award of recognition from the Vietnamese Pharmacist

Association. Since 1990, he has made professional presentations in eight

states and served as a guest lecturer in four countries.