Wasem Gawish, D.Ph., BCPS, BCMTMS, has been selected as the American College of Clinical Pharmacy-American Society of Health-System Pharmacists-Virginia Commonwealth University Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow for 2023–2024.

The only program of its kind in the nation, the Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow Program is a joint initiative led by the Government Affairs teams at ACCP and ASHP and the faculty at VCU School of Pharmacy. The program provides active mentorship and hands-on experience within the U.S. Congress and offers fellows the opportunity to develop skills in issue prioritization, policy, legislation evaluation, research, writing, and advocacy.

Gawish has been a practicing pharmacist since earning his B.S. degree in pharmaceutical sciences from Cairo University in 2001. In 2022, Gawish completed his Pharm.D. degree from Shenandoah University and a dual MBA degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State with concentrations in general management and health care information systems.

“I worked in different practice settings including community pharmacy, pharmaceutical industry and clinical/hospital pharmacy,” Gawish said. “This allowed me to perfect my communication proficiency and clinical skills, as well as acquire many competencies that will be crucial to the successful completion of [the] VCU Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow Program.”

Gawish currently practices as a clinical pharmacist at Oklahoma State University Medical Center and serves as research committee chair of the National Board of Medication Therapy Management (NBMTM), where he leads cross-sectional national research on the impact of board certification on patient outcomes.

“Becoming a member of the board of directors in the NBMTM gave me a platform to utilize my skillset in bringing about positive change,” said Gawish. “This led me to gain the confidence and the determination to further educate myself on regulatory and legislative issues.”

Together with his experience with the NBMTM, Gawish further attributes his interest in health care policy to having witnessed the many negative consequences of COVID-19 on the community. He has already taken steps to engage in issues related to expanding federally funded health insurance programs and granting provider status to pharmacists.

In his application, Gawish wrote:

Observing the unreadiness of our health care infrastructure was both eye-opening and a call for action. I believe that a major overhaul of our health care policies must ensue, and I want to take part in it. The VCU Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow Program is a great opportunity for me to learn policy making at a deeper level through hands-on engagement. The expansion of pharmacists’ involvement in patients’ care as well as patient ease of access to care are two important policy areas to me.

About the Healthcare Policy Fellow Program
Launched in 2006, this prestigious program offers a unique, yearlong health care policy learning experience in the U.S. Congress. The program provides pharmacists an opportunity to gain insight into health care policy analysis and development through immersion in the congressional environment. The Fellow Program begins in July with an immersive orientation in health policy across 3 weeks each with ACCP’s and ASHP’s Government Affairs offices, followed by 12 months on Capitol Hill.

Alumni Fellows
The 2022–2023 Fellow, Amanda Ferguson, Pharm.D., served as a health policy specialist on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).

After their service in the program, past fellows have gone on to engage in a variety of important roles in health care policy and government:

• Amanda Ferguson, Pharm.D., currently serves as Health Legislative Assistant in the Office of U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-DE).
• Nimit Jindal, Pharm.D., currently serves as Health Legislative Assistant in the Office of U.S. Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO).
• Tatiana Bujnoch, Pharm.D., M.S., BCPS, currently serves as Health Equity and Policy Associate at Morgan Health.
• Rita (Habib) Livadas, Pharm.D., currently serves as Director, Global Public Health, Life Sciences at Becton, Dickinson and Co.

Applications for the 2024–2025 Pharmacy Healthcare Policy Fellow Program
Interested candidates should visit the Pharmacy Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow Program website for more information and instructions on submitting an application. For more information, click here.