UWSOP student as an ASHP-SSHP Advisory Group Member

The following is a write up by 1st year UW School of Pharmacy Student Steve Larson, who was selected to be a member of the ASHP-ASP Advisory Group.

Perhaps it is odd but I came to pharmacy school with a plan to become a specialized pharmacy practitioner. During the years leading up to pharmacy school I considered going into drug research, infectious disease pharmacy, and oncology pharmacy practice. Through the process of time and by gaining different experiences, oncology pharmacy became my area of interest and focus. This interest led me to talk to Brian and Stephanie at Pack Forest and express my intention in joining ASHP, the group to which I would belong as an oncology pharmacist. It was during this chat that I learned of the position on the ASHP Advisory Group for a first year pharmacy student. After doing some research I decided to apply for the position because I thought it would be a great way for me to be able to reach out to and assist other pharmacy students. As a member of the ASHP Advisory Group I thought I could help others gather the information they needed to make career impacting decisions. It just so turns out that this is what I will be doing for the next year. As a member of the Meetings and Programming Advisory Group, I have accepted the responsibility to ensure the information shared at the MCM is contemporary, interesting, relevant, and easily accessible. My main goal this year is to help first year pharmacy students, many of whom are new to the world of health care, feel comfortable at the MCMs so they can focus on learning something directly applicable to them. If you are going to the MCM this year, please find me and let me know some of your thoughts and ideas on how to improve it; ie. what you liked and didn’t like, topics you wish were addressed, etc.