Pharm.D. Alumnus Prasad Abraham Achieves Fellow Status in Society of Critical Care Medicine

UH College of Pharmacy alumnus Prasad Abraham, Pharm.D., BCPS, was recognized as a Fellow of the multidisciplinary Society of Critical Care Medicine at the organization's 44th Critical Care Congress Jan. 17-21 in Phoenix, Ariz.

A 1998 graduate of the UHCOP Pharm.D. program, Abraham is a critical care specialist, preceptor and former director of the PGY2 critical care residency program at Grady Health System in Atlanta. He also holds adjunct faculty appointments at Mercer University and Emory University, and serves as membership chair for the Critical Care Pharmacotherapy Trials Network. 

The latest SCCM honor follows Abraham's selection as the first pharmacist to receive the organization's Dr. Joseph and Rae Brown Award at the 43rd Critical Care Congress in January 2014. In addition, Abraham is a past president of the Southeast Chapter of SCCM.

"It's a huge honor, and it was a very humbling moment to see your fellow inductees who've been active in the field and the organization for 20, 30 years," Abraham said. "Even though it's an individual recognition, it was really a team of people -- my critical care colleagues at Grady -- who supported me in so many ways over the years and allowed me to achieve this milestone in my career."

Less than 1 percent of the SCCM membership have been granted fellow status, and Abraham said he appreciated the recommendations he received after his fellowship bid was declined a couple of years ago.

"The lesson here is to be persistent," he said. "I received great feedback in terms of areas I needed to develop in my practice after my first application."

Looking ahead, Abraham said he's been getting more involved in quality improvement activities on a more global scale as well as their application to specific issues in critical care.

"I'm starting to see the bigger picture and look at healthcare challenges with a more translational approach," he said. "We know the data is there, but it can take a lot of time for us to adopt and implement some evidence-based guidelines. My goal now is to shorten that time frame."