A Look Back: Celebrating Years of Advancing Pharmacy Standards

A Letter from Our Founding CEO

To our extraordinary community of certified professionals, dedicated volunteers, visionary partners, and dedicated staff,

I remember standing in a quiet office in the fall of 2018, looking at a whiteboard filled with ambitious ideas. The concepts were bold, the challenges were immense, and the path forward was far from certain. We had a foundational belief: that the pharmacy profession, in all its growing complexity and diversity, deserved a modern, comprehensive, and evidence-based home for professional certification. We envisioned an organization that was not just a test administrator, but a true partner in professional development; not just a follower of standards, but a leader in defining them.

Today, just over six years later, it is with a sense of profound gratitude and immense pride that I look back on the journey from that whiteboard to this moment. The story of the Council on Pharmacy Standards (CPS) is not the story of a building or a brand; it is the story of a community. It is the story of tens of thousands of individuals who raised their hands to say, “I am committed to a higher standard.” It is the story of thousands of volunteer experts who have given their time and wisdom to build a legacy for their profession.

This is not just a look back; it is a celebration of every pharmacist who chose to pursue excellence, every leader who championed their staff’s growth, and every SME who meticulously crafted the standards that now guide our profession. This is the story of how, together, we built an institution.

Part I: The Foundational Years (2019) – Laying the Cornerstone

Every great structure begins with a carefully laid foundation. For CPS, our cornerstone was an unwavering commitment to an evidence-based, “by practitioners, for practitioners” philosophy. We launched our public-facing News & Announcements Hub in late 2018 not as the beginning of our organization, but as the beginning of our public conversation. Our first full year of operations, 2019, was dedicated to turning our foundational principles into tangible programs.

Our very first action was to initiate a national Job Task Analysis (JTA). Before a single question was written or a single standard was set, we went to the source—the practicing pharmacists across the country—to build our programs on a bedrock of data, not opinion. This commitment to scientific rigor would become the defining characteristic of everything that followed.

This research culminated in the September 2019 launch of our first suite of certifications: the Foundational Practice Portfolio. We didn’t start with a narrow, niche specialty. We started at the heart of patient safety and quality care. The Certified Sterile Compounding Pharmacist (CSCP) and Certified Non-Sterile Compounding Pharmacist (CNSCP) credentials were created to address the high-stakes world of medication preparation. The Certified Medication Safety Officer (CMSO) was designed to recognize the systems-level thinkers protecting our institutions from harm. And the Certified Medication Therapy Management Specialist (CMTMS) was built to validate the expanding role of the pharmacist in direct patient care.

These first programs were more than just credentials; they were a statement. They declared that our focus would always be on the areas of practice that have the most direct and profound impact on the well-being of patients. It was in this first year, as we recruited our first brave cohorts of SMEs and welcomed our first pioneering candidates, that the spirit of CPS was truly born—a spirit of collaborative, mission-driven work to elevate our entire profession.

Part II: The Year of Resilience (2020) – Forging Strength in a Crisis

No one could have anticipated the events of 2020. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge of historic proportions, a global crisis that threatened to halt the progress of every industry, including our own. For CPS, it became our defining moment. It was the year we would discover what our organization was truly made of.

Our first response, as detailed in our March 16th message, was rooted in a single principle: the safety and well-being of our community. We immediately suspended deadlines, waived rescheduling fees, and offered unprecedented flexibility to candidates who were suddenly facing immense personal and professional turmoil. We made it clear that we were a partner in their journey, not an obstacle.

But we knew that simply pausing was not enough. With test centers closing nationwide, we faced an existential threat to our mission. It was then that our team embarked on what I fondly remember as our “moonshot project.” In a matter of weeks, through around-the-clock work with technology partners and psychometricians, we achieved what many thought impossible: we designed, validated, and launched a secure, credible Live Remote Proctoring (LRP) platform. The announcement on May 4th was a watershed moment. It was a declaration that our candidates’ professional journeys would not be a casualty of the pandemic. It was a testament to the agility and innovative spirit that had become part of our organizational DNA.

Yet, our response went beyond logistics. We recognized that the pandemic was fundamentally reshaping the role of the pharmacist. In July, we launched the Public Health & Remote Care Portfolio. This suite of certifications—including the Certified Public Health Pharmacist (CPHP) and the Certified Telepharmacy Pharmacist (CTP)—was not just a reaction; it was a strategic validation of the new roles our professionals were assuming on the front lines. We didn’t just change how we tested; we changed what we tested to meet the needs of the moment.

The year 2020 was immensely difficult, but it was not a setback. It was the fire in which the character of CPS was forged. It proved that our organization was not a rigid institution, but a resilient, adaptable, and deeply committed partner to the profession we serve.

Part III: The Era of Growth & Expansion (2021-2022) – Building the Pillars

Having proven our resilience, the years 2021 and 2022 were about harnessing our momentum to build the core pillars of our organization. We began 2021 by making LRP a permanent and accessible option, cementing our commitment to flexibility and breaking down geographic barriers for professionals everywhere.

This new accessibility paved the way for our next major expansion. In April 2021, we launched the Clinical Care Specialties Portfolio. This was our move into the heart of advanced practice, creating national standards for pharmacists managing our society’s most challenging chronic diseases. With credentials like the Certified Cardiometabolic Care Pharmacist (CCCP) and the Certified Behavioral Health Pharmacist (CBHP), we provided a way to recognize the deep, specialized knowledge required to care for these complex patients.

Our growth was not just in offerings, but in partnerships. In late 2021, we launched the Partners in Excellence program, building formal alliances with leading health systems to integrate CPS certifications into their clinical ladders and professional development frameworks. This was a critical step in ensuring our credentials had tangible value in the workplace.

The momentum continued into 2022 with the launch of the Pharmacy Operations & Management Suite. This was a groundbreaking moment. For the first time, a national credentialing body formally recognized that the business of pharmacy is as critical as the clinical practice of pharmacy. Based on the clear mandate from our 2020 JTA, we created a new career pathway for pharmacy leaders. Certifications like the Certified Pharmacy Operations Manager (CPOM) and the Certified Pharmacy Supply Chain Manager (CPSCM) validated the sophisticated skills needed to run the modern, multi-million-dollar pharmacy enterprise. To support this growth, we also invested heavily in our infrastructure, launching a new, streamlined Candidate Portal at the end of 2022 to enhance the user experience from start to finish.

This two-year period saw CPS transform. We moved from a promising new organization to an established, comprehensive institution, with a portfolio of certifications that spanned the full spectrum of practice, from foundational skills to clinical specialties to executive leadership.

Part IV: The Age of Maturity & Influence (2023-2024) – Cementing Our Leadership

If the prior years were about building, 2023 and 2024 have been about maturing into our role as a true national leader and a central institution in the life of the profession.

In early 2023, we launched our most complex and specialized portfolio to date: the Compliance & Regulatory Affairs Portfolio. With six new credentials, including the Certified DEA Compliance Pharmacist (CDCP) and the Certified Compliance Pharmacist – 340B Focus (CCP-340B), we brought a new level of rigor and standardization to the highest-stakes areas of pharmacy practice. The launch of our white paper on 340B Program Integrity further cemented our position as a thought leader in this critical domain.

The summer of 2023 brought one of our proudest moments: the celebration of our 25,000th certified professional. Welcoming Dr. Aisha Sharma, a newly minted CCCP, was a powerful symbol of how large and vibrant our community had become. To support this growing community, we launched official digital badges, providing every certificant with a modern, verifiable, and powerful tool to showcase their achievement and manage their professional brand online.

The year 2024 saw us push the boundaries even further. In April, we unveiled the Advanced Practice & Health System Portfolio. This elite suite of certifications, including the Certified Advanced Specialty Pharmacist (CASP) and the Certified Clinical Trials Pharmacist (CCTP), represents the absolute pinnacle of practice. These are the credentials for the pharmacists working at the intersection of clinical care, cutting-edge research, and the pharmaceutical industry—the very definition of the future of our profession.

We also took time this year to reinforce the ethical and philosophical foundations of our community. Our detailed publication on the CPS Code of Ethics was a reaffirmation of our shared commitment to integrity, and our 2023 Impact Report provided a transparent look at the progress and stewardship of the organization you have all helped to build.

These two years have been defined by a sense of arrival. CPS is no longer just a provider of certifications; we are a center of gravity for professional excellence, a source of authoritative guidance, and a vibrant community of the nation’s leading pharmacy professionals.

Part V: The Future is Now (2025) and Our Vision Forward

Which brings us to today. This year, 2025, is the first year of our next great chapter. In January, we unveiled our ambitious 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, a roadmap built on the pillars of Anticipatory Credentialing, a Career-Long Partnership with our certificants, and System-Wide Impact.

We did not wait to put that plan into action. In March, we launched the Pharmacy Informatics & Technology Suite. With six new certifications, from the Certified AI-Enhanced Pharmacy Strategist (CAEPS) to the Certified Digital Therapeutics Specialist (CDTS), we have firmly planted our flag in the future. We are no longer just keeping pace with the evolution of pharmacy; we are helping to define it.

And our work to enhance the value of your credential has only just begun. The launch of our inaugural CPS Pharmacy Excellence Award this summer is the first of many new initiatives designed to celebrate, connect, and empower our community. The development of our “MyCPS” professional development ecosystem and our formal Mentorship Network are the next major steps in our promise to be your career-long partner.

Looking back, the journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. From a simple idea on a whiteboard to a thriving community of over 40,000 certified professionals, the story of CPS is one of relentless optimism and shared purpose. I want to extend my deepest, most heartfelt thanks to every single person who has been a part of this story. To our first SMEs who took a leap of faith. To our first candidates who became our first champions. To our health system partners who have helped elevate our standards. And to every one of you who holds a CPS credential—you are the living embodiment of our mission.

The future of pharmacy is brighter than ever, and its potential is limitless. We are honored and humbled to be on this journey with you, and we cannot wait to build the next chapter, together.

With deepest gratitude,

The Founding CEO Council on Pharmacy Standards (CPS)