February Member of the Month - Blaze Paracuelles

Blaze was chosen as February's Member of the Month because of the fabulous work he put into making Winter Mingle a success. As a member of the social committee, Blaze's enthusiasm stood out. He came to all of the Social Committee meetings, promptly answered all email communications, and was willing to go above and beyond in helping out. Read the profile he submitted to learn more about him!

"My name is Blaze Paracuelles and I am a first year student pharmacist. I received my bachelor’s degree here at the UW in Microbiology. My love of science and teaching is what help led me to the profession of pharmacy. Every summer break, I would go back home to Hawaii and teach middle and high school students about music. I feel that this experience will help me tremendously as a pharmacist because we are teachers too. As for my future plans after graduation, I currently plan on pursuing a residency and specializing in infectious disease pharmacotherapy."

January Member of the Month - Andrew Heinz

Andrew has been very involved in UPPOW, supporting NCPA and WSPA with events as well as being an integral member on other UPPOW related activities like the upcoming auction

Information about me, Andrew Heinz

Where were you born? - Puyallup, WA

Do you have siblings? - A younger sister, Amy, in her first year as a
nursing student at PLU

Are you married, do you have kids, pets? - 6 months married to my
high school sweetheart, Lacey

Do you have any other degrees or certifications? If so, in what?
Nope, if I fail out of pharmacy school I will be out in the cold.

What is your previous work experience, if any? - I have done a little
bit of everything in my life: I started out bucking hay bails for
farmers running my own hay crew in Eatonville, then I worked for my
dad for a couple summers as a Pharmacy Assistant, the summer after I
graduated from high school I sold knives for 8 weeks, then I worked
the next summer at Seatac Airport at the Alaska Airlines ticket
counter as a Customer Service Agent, then I went to work for the UWMC
as a Patient Service Specialist in the Main PACU for a year and a half
before I got accepted into the UW pharmacy program and became a
Pharmacy Intern.

Are you involved in community service activities? - Not unless I am
doing something that someone else has planned in the school.

Are you active in a church or spiritual group? - Mostly now only on holidays

What are your hobbies or favorite foods? - Hobbies include: puzzling,
movies, card games, athletics, napping, snowboarding, collecting
Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey collectibles. Favorite Foods: Seafood
Fettuccine, Rib-eye steak, rice, lobster, crab, fresh-baked bread,
homemade clam chowder.

Do you have a hero? Who is it and why? - My dad, he is all that I
hope to be when I am his age.

Pharmacy Related

What year in pharmacy school are you? - 2nd year

Do you intern somewhere? - Yes, Rxtra Care Pharmacy in Bellevue, an
independent pharmacy owned by Holly Henry

How did you get interested in pharmacy? - My family has owned
pharmacies since I was 5 years old, my father is a pharmacist and I
strive to be my own boss one day.

Are there any pharmacists or pharmacy technicians in your family or
extended family? - yes father

What has been your favorite UPPOW event so far and why? - The Annual
Auction, it was a ton of fun and helped get me paid :)

Why is involvement in your profession important to you? - Because if
we don't fight for our profession and continue to improve our
profession we will become obsolete pill counters. My involvement has
spurred from a desire to learn about the profession of pharmacy
outside of the classroom and library. To get real life knowledge and
experience from practicing pharmacists and pharmacists who are
fighting to make a difference for our future is so rewarding and
enlightening and something you will never find in the classroom or
library.

What do you want to do when you finish at UWSOP? - Go to work for my
father, take over the family business, expand to 5-6 pharamcies,
become WSPA President, serve on various NCPA steering committees,
retire on a yacht on Lake Washington and go to every UW home football
and basketball game

What type of pharmacy practice setting do you think you want to work
in? - Independent Pharmacy, it is like car toys, the only way to go

65 UWSOP Students Attend Course on Emergency Contraception

To receive the Emergency Contraception Certificate, students completed a didactic study portion, consisting of reading an article and completing a quiz, and attended the practical taught by Jenny Arnold, WSPA Director of Pharmacy Practice and UWSOP alumnus. Student pharmacists asked many great questions and were very engaged with the material presented.

December Member of the Month - Misty Sullivan

UPPOW's Member of the Month for December is Misty Sullivan. Misty did an awesome job as part of the UW team that submitted a video titled "Pharm Walking" for the APhA-ASP PharmFlix competition. Following is some info written by Misty so we can all learn more about her!

I am a 2nd year pharmacy student. I’ve worked as a pharmacy technician since 1997. The majority of my pharmacy experience is from the 8 years I worked at Salem Hospital in Salem, Oregon. Previously, I was a visual communications/graphic arts major and attended the Art Institute for a short time. In 2004, I decided to pursue my PharmD as part-time student. I feel fortunate to have so many years of pharmacy experience to draw on; it has been very beneficial to my learning. After graduation, I would like to do a residency that will prepare me to work in an inpatient hospital setting. I am completely fascinated by infectious diseases and hope to work on an infectious disease clinical team.

November Member of the Month - Chi Mac

Chi has contributed to multiple UPPOW events and even attended events over the summer! Following is more info written by Chi, our very first UPPOW Member of the Month, so that we can all learn more about how great she is!

Currently, I am in my second year of pharmacy school, and I have been a student at the University of Washington for over six years. I got my Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health at this university before I entered pharmacy school. My favorite school events are health fairs; I like to perform health screenings and to educate patients about ways to improve their health. When I graduate, I would like to do a residency to become more competent to address challenges in complex drug therapy. I believe that our profession is changing constantly, and the skills that pharmacists need to remain competent will continue to grow.

Besides pharmacy, I like spending time with my family. I often go jogging with my father and occasionally go shopping with my mother on the weekends. In the past summer, I had fun traveling with my mother to Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. I also like to listen to Chinese music, and read mysteries and suspense novels when I have time.

Senator Ed Murray Visits UW - October 29, 2010

Huey Yu, Director of the Student Political Advocacy Network (SPAN), started the forum with a smart introduction to the extent of education pharmacy students receive and the role and responsibilities of pharmacists in health care.

Senator Murray then introduced himself by describing recent legislation he has been involved in including anti-discrimination and domestic partnership bills, and mentioned his meeting with a group of us two years ago at Legislative Day 2009 (some of whom were with us for this forum also).

A rich Q&A exchange followed between the students and Senator Murray.

Some initial discussion surrounded the 2010 Legislative Session and the three main bills students went to Olympia to promote (elevation of penalties for pharmacy robbery, Medicaid audit reform, and promotion of MTM services by pharmacists). Senator Murray spoke about the legislative process and some of the road blocks that can happen along the way.

This led to an instructive discussion by the senator regarding state revenue and the very difficult decisions before those responsible for balancing the budget, and how the programs at stake when it comes to state expenditures are mainly higher education, healthcare, and prisons.

With regard to pharmacy robbery, a student shared that she has personally been present during three separate pharmacy robberies, and has witnessed the problem firsthand; Senator Murray agreed that no one should have to work in conditions with that level of risk. One student asked whether enhanced sentencing actually serves as a deterrent to crimes, which led to a good discussion about the simple benefit of keeping violent offenders off the streets, vs. actual crime deterrence, and how the effect may vary based on the type of crime in question.

At one point, Senator Murray mentioned his dependence on friends with expertise on various issues to keep him informed on different topics. Someone proposed the idea of a student-led team to provide Senator Murray with fact-based answers to pharmacy-related questions, so that we might be a resource to him with his work on the Health and Long-Term Care Committee. This was received as a great idea on both sides, and later discussion surrounded the recruitment of an inter-disciplinary group for the same purpose, to provide perspectives from students of our affiliated health professions as well.

Following the conclusion of the forum, several students led Senator Murray and Scott, his aide, on a tour of the School of Pharmacy, with stops in Dana Hammer's Top 200 Medications class and Jeannine McCune's Therapeutics lecture, the PCLC, and a brief stop in the administrative offices where the senator was able to meet Dean Baillie, Jeff Rochon, Ryan Oftebro, and Peggy Odegard.

Thank you Senator Murray and Scott Plusquellec for taking time before the election to come visit and congratulations on reelection to the 43rd district!

NCPA Conference in Philadelphia

This year’s National Community Pharmacists Association conference in Philadelphia was an exciting one!

















The UW chapter took home the 2nd Runner Up to the “Chapter of the Year Award,” recognizing us as the third best chapter of the nation. For this achievement our chapter received $500 to use for future UW-NCPA events. In addition, two UW students received NCPA Presidential Scholarships. Andrew Heinz (a current second year student) and Linda Lei (a current third year student) both received scholarship amounts for $2000, as well as complimentary registration to the conference and a $300 travel stipend.









Finally, we are pleased to announce that Andrew Heinz was elected to be the President-Elect for the NCPA National Student Leadership Council. This was exciting news for all of us and we believe that UW’s representation at the national convention this year will create the momentum we need to strengthen our chapter even more.

Over the next year, we plan to further build our Business Plan Workshops into a series of skill-based presentations, as well as supporting the current business plan teams. We also plan to participate in the MTM Challenge, Legislative Advocacy Challenge, as well as encourage attendance to the National Legislation & Government Affairs conference. By doing so, we hope to further increase UW’s representation at the next national conference and bring home the Chapter of the Year Award next time!