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!

Clinical Skills Competition - October 21st, 2010

Eighteen UWSOP teams competed in round one of this year's ASHP Clinical Skills Competition.
Teams of two students were given two hours to work up a patient case and prepare a written care plan for that patient. Then the teams presented their case to a panel of expert judges, Drs. Doug Black, Lingtak Chan, and Elizabeth James.

This year, the judges followed a different format for evaluation. Teams of first- and second-year students were given verbal feedback on their performance to better prepare them for future competitions. Teams of third- and fourth-year students were evaluated numerically.

A special thank you goes out to our judges for donating their time to make this event possible, to our ASHP Liaisons Stephanie and Sophia for organizing the event, and to the competitors for their participation.

The winners, Brent Leithauser and Zach Conroy, both of the class of 2011, will go on to represent UWSOP at the national competition in Disneyland! Good luck guys!

IPSF Trivia Night Raised over $1250!

On October 18th, IPSF and Bridges to Health hosted a trivia night at the Pied Piper Ale House in Ravenna, raising over $1250 to benefit Pharmabridge. The Pharmabridge program works to promote pharmacy services in developing and transitional countries.



Thanks to the Pied Piper Ale House for donating beverage proceeds and prizes, and thanks to the local businesses and our UWSOP professional student organizations that also donated prizes for the event! Way to go IPSF and Bridges to Health!

UWSOP Students Holding National/Regional Positions

This was compiled to encourage UWSOP students to apply for positions outside of UW and to inform students about what fellow classmates are doing to improve the profession of pharmacy. UWSOP students can make an impact on the regional and national level!

Andrew Heinz

NCPA National Student Leadership Council President-Elect

I am a second year student and I have lived in Washington my whole life and attended the University of Washington for my entire collegiate career. My family has owned pharmacies for the past 16 years, so I have grown up most of my life working in an independent pharmacy in some capacity. I am very passionate about independent pharmacy, pharmacy ownership, and legislative advocacy.

I decided to run for this position because the current president of this council, a fourth year student from WSU, came and spoke to our school about NCPA and the leadership opportunities they have to offer. I was really inspired by his enthusiasm and involvement in effecting change for our profession, so I decided to run for the position.

My role is to assist the President in his presidential duties as well as be a liaison for my assigned region. I disseminate information to the chapter officers at all of the pharmacy schools in my region about national meetings, national challenge competition submissions deadlines, scholarship deadlines, etc. I am the go to person to field all questions from the pharmacy schools in my region.

The benefit of holding a national position is it gives you first hand insight into the organization. It allows you to get involved in the planning and organizing of student programming at meetings as well as help innovate and update challenge competition criteria. Also, being involved in national leadership the organization helps to pay for travel and lodging to national meetings.

My goals during my term as presidency are to help create regional meetings for students to attend. I feel that this will help boost interest and involvement in NCPA. I also hope to boost involvement and interest in NCPA at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy.

Jonathan Chenoweth

APhA-ASP Policy Standing Committee, Member

jchenowe@u.washington.edu

My name is Jonathan Chenoweth and I am a 4^th year student pharmacist at the University of Washington. This year in addition to the excitement of rotations I am gratefully able to participate as a member of the Policy Standing Committee with the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP).

Throughout my time at UWSOP I was excited to discover many opportunities to participate in pharmacy events that occurred beyond the classroom. I was particularly drawn to the policy arena and the impact it can have on the profession of pharmacy. Each year I would look forward to the Legislative Day in Olympia when the student pharmacists get their opportunity to remind the state legislators of our impact with patients and the issues we feel are important. Success in the policy arena is a long process but I enjoy every step.

After attending MRM and the APhA Annual meeting I was intrigued by the work the Standing Committees do for APhA-ASP at the national level. I was fortunate enough to have a fellow stud

ent pharmacist from UWSOP as a member of the policy committee at that time to turn to for advice. After speaking with her and participating in additional committees within both APhA-ASP and APhA, I applied and was appointed by the National Executive Committee to the Policy Standing Committee.

As a member of a Standing Committee (there are 4; Policy, Education, Communication, and Awards), you get the opportunity to implement the proposals passed by student pharmacists at the Annual meeting, establish goals you wish to achieve, and meet other student pharmacists from around the country. The additional networking opportunities have been a real surprise addition to this role, helping me to develop relationships that I know will strengthen my professional career.

I encourage anyone who has sought leadership roles at the local level and is looking to expand their horizons or look for new challenges to consider applying for a standing committee with APhA-ASP and if I think it would be a good fit for you I just might seek you out. Please contact me with any questions you may have.

Karen Craddick

Regional Delegate for the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP)

Hello UWSOP! My name is Karen Craddick, I am a P3 and am serving in a one year position as a Regional Delegate for the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP). As I come to the end of my term at the APhA-ASP Midyear Regional Meeting (MRM), I look back on my experience with great memories and a sincere appreciation for APhA-ASP and the hard work of many individuals all over the country. I have LOVED being an APhA-ASP Regional Officer!!!! I encourage you to think about running for one of the three Regional Officer Positions at the Region 7 MRM in Salt Lake City 10/22 – 10/24. Contact me if you have any questions: Karen.craddick@gmail.com or visit:

http://www.pharmacist.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=APhA_ASP_Regional_Officers

As a Regional Delegate (RD), I have gotten to know amazing pharmacists and student pharmacists from all over the country. A big part of my job was working with the other seven Regional Delegates to decide which resolutions passed at the MRM’s would be voted on at the Annual Meeting last March in DC. We started with 100+ resolutions and narrowed it down to 5! We then further developed the policy ideas. The resolutions that are passed at the Annual meeting are implemented by the APhA-ASP Policy Standing Committee. (p.s. the APhA Annual Meeting is in Seattle this year on March 25^th-28^th – hope to see you there!)

I ran for the RD position because I am passionate about advancing the profession of pharmacy and I wanted to get more involved with APhA-ASP. Surprisingly during my term as RD I discovered my passion and interest in health policy! I now understand how my interest in policy and passion for the profession are married and work synergistically. Serving as a RD has been a very valuable experience, I have learned SO many things that I never would have learned in the class room and have met amazing people along the way. As a result, I have a new direction and dream for my career and the future of pharmacy.

I am happy to answer any questions, just stop me in the hall or shoot me an e-mail: Karen.craddick@gmail.com

: )

Steven Larson

ASHP Pharmacy Student Forum Student Society Development Advisory Group Member

This is my second year serving on an advisory group for the ASHP PSF. Last year I had the opportunity to serve on the ASHP PSF Meetings and Programming Advisory Group (now called the Education and Programming Advisory Group). My experience with the MPAG turned out to be even better than I expected, which is why I decided to apply again this year. Through the advisory groups I have been able to create friendships with and be mentored by pharmacy students from across the country. The knowledge I have gained by serving in these positions has helped me better understand my future profession. While I have been able to help improve the ASHP PSF on the national level, my greatest hope is that by serving on these advisory groups I will be able to help others navigate through the difficulties of selecting an area of pharmacy in which to practice.

UPPOW/APhA-ASP President and UPPOW President Elect

Sara McElroy – UPPOW/APhA-ASP President

Greetings, and happy fall everyone! I’m Sara McElroy and I am excited to serve you this year as the UPPOW/APhA-ASP President.  I hail from the East Coast…I grew up in Connecticut and lived for 4 years in North Carolina before moving to Seattle.  I love to travel (the picture is of me in Maokong, Taipei), hike, cook, spend time with friends and, despite some ridiculous/embarrassing slow motion falls this summer; I am training for long-distance cycling…wish me luck!

I hope you had a restful summer, because the incredible UPPOW board has been hard at work planning events (familiar and innovative) for this upcoming year.  It has been an honor to work with everyone on the board… they are passionate about making UPPOW everything you can hope for. I encourage you all to get involved in some way, we all have talents to contribute to the profession of pharmacy! (Think about joining a committee…hint, hint). I look forward to working with you at health fairs, learning with you at meetings, and having some fun together.  As always, I welcome your comments, thoughts, and suggestions…so please feel free to contact me at any time! rawras@gmail.com

UPPOW President Elect - Lexie Lindner

Hey Everyone!  I’m Lexie Lindner and am currently UPPOW President-Elect.  For all of you who have no idea what that actually means (I didn’t get it initially either!), that means that I am currently acting more as a Vice-President, but will become UPPOW President next year.  I am a second year and am new to Seattle.  My husband and I moved here from Madison, WI last year.  I am a Badger through and through (and an honorary Husky fan)!  No dissin’ my Packers either.  Don’t talk to me about Brett Favre, though.  It’s a sure way to get on my bad side.  Also, I love to go out with friends whenever my wallet (and my schedule) will allow it!

I work at Highline Medical Center in Burien, WA by SeaTac airport.  Right now, I want to go into Pediatric Solid Organ Transplant while concurrently holding a position as an adjunct faculty member at a University. 

ASHP Liaisons

Stephanie Friedman - ASHP Sr. Liaison

Hi! I’m Stephanie and I'll be your ASHP Senior Liaison this year. I’m originally from Florida, but moved to Seattle in 2007.  Hiking around here is awesome!

We have an exciting year planned for ASHP.  Keep checking your e-mail for announcements of patient case presentations, clinical skills competitions, special guest speakers, and our brand-new Hospital Intern Network.  I’m always happy to get feedback and suggestions, or just to shoot the breeze, so send me an e-mail or track me down in the 3^rd year classes. 

Hope to see many of you at ASHP Midyear in Anaheim, CA (aka Disney Land) December 5-9, 2010!

Stephanie Friedman

stephzim@uw.edu

Sophia Vuong - ASHP Jr. Liaison

Hi Everyone! My name is Sophia and I will be your ASHP Junior Liaison this year. I’m currently a second year student and I also did my undergraduate degree at UW. I’ve lived in the Seattle area my whole life so I do enjoy hiking, camping, etc. I like spending time with my family, traveling, trying new foods, and taking my dog to the dog park. I currently intern at Swedish Medical Center and at Target Pharmacy, so I hope I will be helpful in knowing what it’s like in these two areas of pharmacy. I am looking forward to helping you guys take advantage of what ASHP-SSHP has to offer and providing resources for those of you interested in learning more about hospital pharmacy. For those of you interested in pursuing residencies, we have tons of resources for you as well. Remember, the ASHP student chapter should be about you, so if you have any ideas or see something you would like our chapter to do, Stephanie and I would love your input. I hope you will take advantage of all the opportunities UPPOW has to offer and I hope to see many of you at our ASHP-SSHP chapter events!