You've reached Pharm.D.(evelopments), a blog geared toward student pharmacists in Michigan and members of Student Michigan Pharmacists Association.
Participate, post comments, send photos and interact with each other as we bring you the latest pharmacy news, give opportunities to actively participate in your profession and help prepare you to practice in the state of Michigan.
Share Your Content!
Student pharmacists are welcome to share articles, including informational pieces, events or college of pharmacy news, for use on the Pharm.D.(evelopments) student blog! Submit your content, photos, etc. to MPA Director of Communications Leah Godzina at Leah@MichiganPharmacists.org.
To congratulate all recent pharmacy graduates, MPA extends a complimentary membership with the association through Dec. 31, 2010.
Your gift of membership includes:
reduced rates on continuing education programs and events.
pharmacy practice solutions, including answers to your questions from MPA’s knowledgeable staff, or explore the practice FAQs on the MPA Web site for answers to common practice questions.
savings on insurance programs, travel, uniforms and more. Visit the MPA Web site for a complete list of special member perks.
Again, congratulations on your achievement! Be sure to update your information to receive important updates from MPA. Welcome to the profession, and if you have any questions regarding your membership, contact Membership Manager Stacy Ann Sipes at (517) 377-0241 or StacyAnn@MichiganPharmacists.org.
On Monday, July 19, Student MPA member volunteers will gather in Lansing to work on planning the student programming for the 2011 MPA Annual Convention & Exposition, which will be held Feb. 25-27, 2011, at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. Working with the students will be MPA Chief Executive Officer Larry Wagenknecht, MPA Chief Operations Officer Dianne Miller and other MPA staff members. A number of suggestions and ideas that were submitted by students following the 2010 Convention will be discussed and evaluated, as well some new ideas for making the upcoming event even better for students. If you’re interested in participating, please contact MPA Associate Executive Director La Vone Swanson at (517) 377-0231 or LaVone@MichiganPharmacists.org.
MPA will be hosting two additional Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery Programs this summer to provide interested participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to become a primary source of vaccine administration and information. The first program will be held July 26 at the Lexington Lansing Hotel, and the second will be held Aug. 24 at the new MPA headquarters at 408 Kalamazoo Plaza in Lansing.
Registrants will be mailed a self-study approximately four weeks prior to the live training. The self-study must be completed and submitted at registration on the program date. Successful completion of the self-study will result in eight hours of continuing education credit. Successful completion of the live seminar component will result in 12 hours of live continuing education credit, for a total of 20 hours for the entire program. Click on the links below to access registration and additional information for each immunization program.
Be sure to mark your calendar for the upcoming 2010 Pharmacy Day at the Capitol, which will be held Sept. 14 on the south Capitol lawn in Lansing. Held every fall, Pharmacy Day at the Capitol is a key opportunity to educate legislators on the valuable role pharmacy professionals play in health care. Volunteers have one-on-one time during wellness demonstrations with Michigan's lawmakers to discuss important pharmacy issues and provide expertise in the following areas:
Blood glucose monitoring
Blood pressure monitoring
Cholesterol monitoring
Immunizations
Asthma inhaler usage
Healthy lifestyle practices
Click here to view photos from the 2009 event, and be sure to watch the event page on the MPA Web site for the most up-to-date information.
Promote the importance of pharmacists to patients across Michigan by entering MPA’s Pharmacy Week video contest!
Contest Specifics:
Student pharmacists, pharmacy residents and other MPA members are encouraged to create a one to three minute video highlighting the valuable role pharmacists play in patient health care.
The theme of the video should center around the tagline, “That’s My Pharmacist.” This is also the theme of a nationwide message campaign MPA has developed and will be releasing in 2010 and 2011.
Ideas for video content include patient interviews, recording in different pharmacy settings, pharmacist interviews, personal testimonials, etc.
Entries should be in a flash or mpeg standard video format.
Entries are due no later than June 1.
Award Recognition:
Video will be prominently featured in Michigan Pharmacy Week materials
Video will be actively promoted and available to all pharmacists in the state to use for Pharmacy Week celebrations and community outreach
Video will be highlighted on MPA’s Web site and the Sept./Oct. issue of Michigan Pharmacist
Video will be featured at MSHP Annual Meeting in November
Be sure to mark your calendar for the 2010 Pharmacy Day at the Capitol, Sept. 14 on the south Capitol lawn in Lansing. Each fall, Pharmacy Day at the Capitol provides a key opportunity for pharmacy professionals to educate legislators on the vital role they play in health care. Volunteers provide one-on-one demonstrations to Michigan’s lawmakers and information in a variety of areas, including blood pressure monitoring, immunizations, asthma inhaler usage, healthy lifestyle practices and blood glucose readings. Save the date for this important event and watch future MPA communications for additional information. Also, visit the photo gallery from the 2009 event.
The 2010 MPA Annual Convention & Exposition, held Feb. 26-28 at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, attracted more than 1,300 student pharmacists, pharmacists, technicians, academia and others. A variety of student events were held throughout the weekend, including the first Self-Care Challenge. Teams of three from each college of pharmacy competed in a Jeopardy-style game. The Self-Care Challenge winning team of Carrie Nelson, Valerie Franklin and Jessica Schultz from Ferris State University received a traveling trophy to display at their college.
On Saturday, the Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSHP) sponsored a student luncheon. A pharmacy leader sat at each table during the lunch to provide students the opportunity to network with professionals in the industry and ask questions about getting involved in the organization.
In addition, the Michigan Pharmacy Foundation hosted the adopt-a-student program once again, and is proud to announce that all 120 students were adopted this year. The MPA online forum was utilized to match up students with their “parents” prior to the convention, as opposed to matching them at the student social, which proved to be a successful change. Rather, the student social was a much more casual event, where students enjoyed light refreshments, mingled and played games.
A number of educational programming sessions were geared directly toward student members, including financial planning and the MPJE law review. Student pharmacists also assisted with presenting donation drive items to Mother Waddles Perpetual Mission during the convention’s Keynote Session.
If you attended the convention, please take a moment to complete a short survey online to assist MPA in improving student pharmacist activities at next year’s convention.
The Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSHP) Residency Conference will be held June 7 at the Lexington Lansing Hotel. This day-long conference will feature several presentations on topics relevant to advancing residency experiences. MSHP President Terry Baumann will provide openings remarks, followed by the keynote session presented by Thomas Thielke, director of pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin. Pearl topics will close out the morning and then lunch will be provided. In the afternoon, attendees will hear two speakers, as well as participate in roundtable discussions on a variety of topics.
This program is designed for residency directors, preceptors, residents and students committed to improving the residency experience. Continuing education credit will not be awarded for this conference. Watch future MPA communications for registration information and further conference details.
MPA was active at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Annual Meeting & Exposition March 12-15 in Washington, D.C., hosting events and providing networking opportunities for student pharmacists. Through sponsorship by Michigan Pharmacy Foundation (MPF), students from each Michigan college of pharmacy were able to attend the Political Leadership Breakfast. Students in attendance through the MPF sponsorship included Janelle Turino, Kimberly Betters, Megan Hansen, Clayton Gilde, Charles Makowski, Claire Lee and Kim Claeys. Claire Lee also sits on the APhA Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) Policy Review Committee and represented Michigan as a delegate to the APhA House of Delegates. Students were also invited to a luncheon hosted by MPA at Finn and Porter restaurant on March 13.
Jennifer Lins, a P4 student pharmacist at the University of Michigan, was recognized in the 7th Annual One to One Patient Counseling Competition. Lins worked on a clinical psychiatric rotation in the summer of 2009 and was recognized for counseling a patient hospitalized for mania.
Photos from the APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition are available in the MPA online photo gallery. The 2011 event will take place March 25-28 in Seattle, Wash.
The Western Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists (WMSHP) is offering a nonrenewable scholarship for P3 student pharmacists. Two scholarships will be awarded in the amount of $1,000 to P3 students attending a Michigan college of pharmacy. The deadline to submit an application is March 31, 2010. For more information on scholarship criteria or to submit an application, visit the WMSHP Web site.
