Impact of a global leader on pharmaceutical practice and policy around the world
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(2020) 13:51
OBITUARY
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Impact of a global leader on pharmaceutical practice and policy around the world F. Alves da Costa1,2* , M. Henman3 , C. Hughes4 , H. Leufkens5 , Z. Babar6 , J. McElnay4 and M. Schulz7,8 Abstract This commentary describes the contributions of a Dutch pharmacist who contributed in a unique manner to the development of community pharmacy practice in Europe, to the evolution of practice-based research and to its publication. With an interest in pharmaceutical care and in clinical pharmacy, Dr. van Mil changed practice and policy in Europe over the last decades in a very visible way, here documented through a summary of some of his main written contributions. We write this to honour his memory and contribute to the preservation of his legacy. Keywords: Pharmaceutical care, Medication review, Clinical pharmacy, Europe The first reference to pharmaceutical care dates to 1975 [1], and successive definitions and operationalisation of the term have continued across the world. However, many of these were largely descriptive or pilot studies, with little impact on practice or simply refinements of terminology which did not transfer into policy which is essential to lead to changes in the scope of practice of pharmacists working in various health care settings. A pragmatic approach, a strong character and a drive to make the world a better place are some of the phrases that could be used to describe Dr. Foppe van Mil, who died on 18 July 2020. This commentary summarises the most relevant achievements of a unique career that has had an impact on the practice, research or policy relating to pharmacy across the world, either working on his own or, more often, collaboratively with academic or practice-based teams. Table 1 summarises many of the projects with which Dr. van Mil was associated alongside some key publications that influenced practitioners, researchers and policy-makers, including his PhD thesis * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal 2 University Institute Egas Moniz, Lisbon, Portugal Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
which was a landmark for pharmacy practice in the Netherlands, expanding its impact to many other countries [2]. He was involved in the first two pharmaceutical care research projects in Europe; in the Asthma Intervention Project (TOM), he was a postgraduate student, and in the Care of the Elderly study (OMA), he was a leading member of the research team [3, 6]. Both projects took a holistic approach to patient care and involved international collaboration, two aspects that were characteristic of Foppe’s conception of research. The major influence on Foppe’s research involvement, and on his influence on his colleagues, was his experience and expertise as a community pharmacist; this made him very practical but also very demanding, because for him, research was about, and for, the benefit of patients. His reputation reached all countries, and even countries recognised
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