Dr. Robert L. Talbert, the Smithkline Centennial Professor Emeritus in Pharmacy, has received the Paul F. Parker Medal from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP).
The award was established in 2002 to honor Parker recognized internationally for his pioneering efforts in the clinical training of pharmacists. The Parker Award is the highest honor bestowed by ACCP. Talbert was recognized and officially received the award at the opening general session of the 2015 Global Conference on Clinical Pharmacy in San Francisco on October 18.
Dean Lynn Crismon was among those nominating Talbert for the award which recognizes an individual who has made outstanding, significant, and sustained contributions to improving or expanding the pharmacy profession.
Crismon said he had the unique perspective of having known Talbert when Crismon was a student in Talbert’s class, as colleague when they served together on the faculty at the College of Pharmacy, and later as Talbert’s dean.
“Some people might refer to Dr. Talbert as an “old school” professor,” Crismon wrote in his nomination letter. “If old school means that he has high expectations from students, if old school means that he challenges students to integrate their knowledge to solve problems, and if old school means that he expects just as much from himself as he does from his students, then yes, Bob Talbert is old school.”
“Bob is the type of professor that some student pharmacists might prefer to avoid during fourth year clinical rotations because they know they are going to have to work hard,” he continued. “However, after graduation and they are in the healthcare workplace, these same individuals will applaud him and thank him for challenging them to do their best and to learn how to analyze complex problems and manage patients’ medication therapy.”
In addition to his teaching expertise, Talbert is an accomplished author, serving as co-editor of all nine editions of Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach, the leading pharmacotherapy textbook used by colleges of pharmacy throughout the United States.
His research has focused on cardiovascular issues, with his more recent efforts dealing with the stroke consortium.
Dr. Talbert has received numerous awards for his teaching and his contributions to pharmacy education and practice. He is recipient of the college’s Arlyn Kloesel Outstanding Preceptor Award and of the Robert G. Leonard Memorial Lecture Award which is awarded jointly by the college and the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists. He is a recipient of the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy’s Paul Parker Award, ACCP)’s Outstanding Educator Award, and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s Robert K. Chalmers Distinguished Pharmacy Educator Award.
He has received awards from both the ACCP and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists for sustained contributions to the pharmacotherapy and pharmacy literature.
He joins Charles Walton is being the only other faculty member from the UT College of Pharmacy to receive the Parker Medal.