Episode 126: Three Specialties, Three Mentors: NPTA SIGs Launch

Sep 25, 2026

In this launch episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston introduces NPTA's brand-new member communities: Specialty Interest Groups (SIGs).

NPTA Specialty Interest Groups (SIGs) are new member-based communities for technicians who work in — or want to grow into — a specialty. A place to find your people, trade what actually works, learn from someone a few steps ahead, and stop feeling like you're figuring it out alone. Because here's the truth: your path forward gets a lot clearer when you're standing next to people walking the same one.

NPTA's first three SIGs focus on Health-System Pharmacy, Independent Pharmacy, and Sterile Compounding — and today Mike sits down with the three founding mentors leading them: Erika Anderson (Sterile Compounding), Nicki Fairbanks (Health-System Pharmacy), and Meredy Ayers (Independent Pharmacy). Each mentor shares her own path into pharmacy, why she said yes to leading a SIG, and who she hopes to reach. In this episode, we discuss:

• Three Different Worlds: How a day in independent pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, and a compounding lab can look nothing alike — and why technicians need spaces built for their specific setting, not a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Unplanned Paths, Real Careers: From a senior-year career questionnaire to 26 years behind the counter, each mentor's journey into pharmacy was different — and none of them had it mapped out from day one.
• A Space for Technicians, By Technicians: Why Erika believes compounding techs need a place of their own to talk compliance, share frustrations, and connect — since so many existing groups are led by pharmacists, not technicians.
• Say Yes Before You're Ready: Practical, hard-won advice from all three mentors on getting involved even without the fanciest title, the most experience, or full confidence — because showing up is the first step.
• What Success Looks Like: Each mentor's vision for her SIG a year from now, from technicians speaking up and trying something new, to those "watching from the sidelines" becoming the ones answering questions themselves.

About Our Guests: Erika Anderson, CPhT, CSPT, is the System Manager of Pharmacy Compounding at CommonSpirit Health, overseeing compounding practices and 503B outsourcing quality assurance across 142 hospitals. Nicki Fairbanks, CPhT-Adv, CSPT, BCNCPT, is a Pharmacy Technician Supervisor at UC Davis Health with 15+ years of hospital pharmacy experience. Meredy Ayers, CPhT-Adv, CHW, spent 26 years in independent community pharmacy and now serves as the Events and Engagement Manager at the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding.

The first live SIGs events kick off in October. Each mentor is planning a live, interactive session built for your setting — the kind of practical, tech-to-tech conversation you won't find anywhere else. But you've got to be signed up to get the invite. Sign up for one, or all three — it takes about a minute, and when you join, we'll ask what you want your mentor to cover first, so the content is built around what you actually need.

SIGN UP for NPTA's SIGs