Amanda Applegate
Amanda Applegate, PharmD, BCACP, completed her pharmacy degree at the University of Kansas and went on to complete a PGY-1 Community Practice residency through the University of Kansas and Balls Food Stores, a small chain of pharmacies in the Kansas City metro area. Following residency, she earned board certification in Ambulatory Care Pharmacy and spent 10 years with Balls Food Stores, focused on immunizations, employee wellness, chronic disease management, and point of care testing in pharmacies.
She now brings that experience to pharmacies across the state as the Director of Practice Development and Interim Executive Director for the Kansas Pharmacists Association, helping pharmacies add and develop pharmacy-based clinical services to best serve their communities. Her practice focus has centered around pharmacists as public health professionals, making effective interventions at the individual and community levels to decrease morbidity and mortality.
Dr. Applegate is passionate about the role that pharmacists play in the healthcare puzzle, previously serving on the Kansas Board of Pharmacy’s Collaborative Drug Therapy Management Committee and currently serving as the Chair for the Immunize Kansas Coalition. She has served on the board of the Kansas Pharmacists Association, including as board president, and has volunteered her time with JayDoc Free Health Clinic and Medical Reserve Corps of Greater Kansas City. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, gardening, and spending time with her husband and rescue animals.
"While any day spent celebrating our profession and trying to solve the big problems in pharmacy is a good one, my day spent as the APhA Foundation’s CEO for the Day was an especially good day.
I started off my day learning how to run an efficient association, attract top talent to the profession, and network within pharmacy and beyond - all skills that could apply in my position as the Interim Executive Director of the Kansas Pharmacists Association. While every organization has unique challenges, one thing I’ve learned is that we’re all better off when we face those challenges together. I’ve always so appreciated how willing pharmacists are to share best practices and lessons learned with each other, whether we’re in the next town over or across the country, and my time with the APhA and APhA Foundation teams reinforced that pharmacists and pharmacy associations are better together.
I’m looking forward to continuing my work with the APhA Public Health Special Interest Group and will always advocate for pharmacy professionals to have their voices heard at local, state, and national levels." - Amanda Applegate