May 28-31, 2009: Northwest convention in Idaho

With the 2008-2009 school year winding down, 15 student volunteers and more than 20 other UW pharmacy students made the trek across the state to meet with pharmacists and student pharmacists from all over the northwest at another great WSPA Northwest convention in Coeur d’Alene, ID. The WSPA annual Northwest Convention provides students the unique opportunity to hear from local colleagues and leaders about crucial issues facing pharmacy today.

With more than 30 separate seminars, there were CE sessions to suit any pharmacy interest. There were clinical lectures on subjects like fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and chemotherapeutic agents; business management sessions with talks about Medicare Part B & D, and pharmacy security; and finally important Washington State legislative updates.

But it wasn’t all lectures and CE in Coeur d’Alene. Students also took part in Coeur d’Alene pub crawls, dined on gourmet cooking at the evening gala, and danced the night away in the “Shore Lounge.” In the end, the 2009 Northwest Convention was educational, inspiring and most of all, really fun!

May 21-24, 2009: Border to Border

While not an official UPPOW event, UPPOW supports the student pharmacists who participate in Border to Border, a 325-mile relay across Washington state. The event was established by former pharmacy student Patrick Gallagher in honor of his father, and funds raised go to support the American Cancer Society.

May 9 2009: Independent Pharmacy Tours

The Spring Independent Pharmacy Tour on May 9th, 2009 gave us a refreshing view of the variety of ways that independent pharmacies can serve their community. We visited Katterman’s Pharmacy in Sandpoint, Bob Johnson’s Pharmacy in Greenwood and one of the newest Kelly Ross Pharmacies, the Long Term Care Pharmacy on Eastlake. Our small group of student tourists spent the day enjoying the sun while learning from these successful and friendly community pharmacists. It was a genuinely enjoyable trip!

May 9-10, 2009: Relay for Life

UWSOP student pharmacists and UW Pre-Pharmacy Club members joined forces to walk in this year's Relay for Life, an overnight event that raises funds for the American Cancer Society.

April 24, 2009: UPPOW Annual Auction

Attendance and spirits were high at UPPOW's annual fundraiser, which had a Superhero theme. Thousands of dollars were raised to fund student participation in regional and national pharmacy conventions.

April 3-7, 2009: APhA Annual Meeting in Texas

UWSOP student pharmacists gathered en masse in San Antonio for the annual APhA national conference. A group is shown here supporting 3rd year student Luis Ramos, who ran for National Member-At-Large of the organization.

April 5, 2009: UWSOP volunteers at Walk MS

Over 20 student pharmacists gathered in the early morning hours on April 5th to volunteer at this year's Walk MS. 10,000 participants and volunteers attended the event, which raised an estimated $2,000,000.00 to support multiple sclerosis research and treatments.

February 20, 2009: Legislative Day in Olympia

57 student pharmacists from UWSOP and others from WSU gathered in Olympia to speak with legislators regarding pharmacy issues. Students also participated in a health fair.

January 23, 2009: Winter Mingle

Over 150 students and their guests attended the 2009 Winter Mingle, which was held on an Argosy Cruise Ship. Casino Royale was the theme. Food, drink, and dance were enjoyed by all.

December 7-11 2008: ASHP Midyear

It’s the only place where you will find Student Pharmacists, Residencies, and Mickey Mouse in the same area code!! The conference took place in Orlando, FL from December 7 to December 11, 2008.  Students, residencies, and pharmacists from across the country convened at the Orange County Convention Center for 4 days of education, networking, and information exchange. 

Plan ahead for next year- Midyear 2009 will take place in Sin City (Las Vegas)!

November 2008: WSPA Annual Meeting

In November students and pharmacists attended the WSPA annual meeting at the Tulalip Convention Center.  The program was filled with many valuable CE events. The new board of directors was initiated, and WSPA said goodbye to Rod Schaefer who has spent the last 15 years as the CEO of the organization.  Jeff Rochon will be taking over as the interim CEO while a search is conducted for the position. 

October 11-15 2008: NCPA Convention

The NCPA’s 110th Annual Convention and Trade Exposition took place from October 11th to the 15th this year at Tampa, Florida. The convention began with an awesome Chapter Officer’s Breakfast where we had the opportunity to talk to NCPA chapter officers from all over the nation. The highlight was seeing our past NCPA chapter president Emily Schulze present on the Political Advocacy Challenge! She did a wonderful job! The rest of the convention was just as exciting with a broad array of programs such as educational workshops on pharmacy ownership, social events, student business plan competition, and the trade exposition. Additionally, the speakers were engaging and the food was delicious making this a very memorable convention.
 
Next October, you can attend NCPA’s 111th Annual Convention and Trade Exposition taking place in the exciting city of New Orleans!

2008 ASHP Clinical Skills Competition

Fourteen teams composed of students from all four classes competed in this evet, which was a huge success. We would like to congratulate this year's winning team Nick Au and Adam Clemens, from the class of 2009. Nick and Adam continued on to represent the UWSOP and compete in the National Clinical Skills Competition at the 2008 ASHP Midyear conference in Orlando on December 6th, 2008. Great job guys and thanks again to everyone that came out to compete - we hope to see you again next year!

Salvation Army ARC Health Fair

UWSOP students, in conjunction with Micki Kedzierski's Pharm 591 class on community collaborations in health care, helped put on the second annual Salvation Army ARC health fair this fall. The ARC is a residential rehabilitation program for approximately 100 men and women recovering from alcohol and/or drug addiction and mental illness. Overall the health fair was a huge success for both the students and the beneficiaries.

Opperation Immunization 2008 Update

This fall we were able to vaccinate almost 100 people in the Seattle area with a donation of flu vaccination from Safeway. Our goal this year is to reach out to under served populations who might otherwise not be able to get the protection
they need; so far it has been a great success.
We have had the opportunity to immunize people at both the Salvation Army ARC and the Aloha Inn.
In addition, we had over 70 students take the Pharm 531 Community Pharmacy-based Immunization and Health Screening Programs elective before the fall quarter, enabling them to practice in community pharmacies throughout the area and receive their immunization certification.

Pack Forest 2008

Representatives from UPPOW, Kappa Psi, Lambda Kappa Sigma, Rho Chi, Phi Lambda Sigma, Border to Border and ASCP attend this two-day event to help welcome students in the upcoming class to the University of Washington School of Pharmacy.

Class of 2012 Welcome to the Profession Ceremony

This year’s Welcome to the Profession Ceremony took place a few days prior to school following a professionalism workshop held during orientation week. This event provides a chance for the incoming class to present their Pledge of Professionalism highlighting the duties and qualities they expect of themselves throughout their career in the pharmacy profession. At the “Welcome to the Profession Ceremony” each incoming PharmD student is recognized and receives their White Coat from the Dean. This year the outgoing Dean and three guest speakers were invited to share their words of encouragement to the incoming class, including: Sid Nelson (Outgoing Dean of UWSOP), Jeff Rochon (WSPA Director of Professional Development), Don Downing (Clinical Professor at UWSOP), Elyse Tung (Class of 2008 Graduate and Swedish Medical Center PGY1 Resident). Each spoke on behalf of the importance of getting involved in professional activities to enhance life-long learning and career development. All the current students, faculty and alumni are happy to welcome the Class of 2012 and support them in their time at the University of Washington and future in the profession of pharmacy.