The SIUE APhA-ASP chapter holds several Lunch N’ Learns through out the school year. Lunch N’ Learns provide lunch to ASP members while a speaker is invited to make a presentation. This can include education on new products, patient care projects, legislative and political updates or any issues that affects student pharmacists. Check out the Student Blackboard for the latest schedule.
Please click here to view the newsletter from the conference in San Diego.
The APhA-ASP Midyear Regional Meetings (MRM's) are held every fall in each of the eight regions across the country. They are the only meetings designed exclusively for the needs of student pharmacists. Meeting topics include chapter fundraising ideas, career workshops, the policy process, patient care projects, and patient counseling. It also serves as a wonderful opportunity to network with student pharmacists from other schools. In 2007, SIUE will be hosting the meeting along with Purdue and Butler. The meeting is set for Nov 2nd-Nov 4th in West Lafayette, IN. For more information, check out the APhA-ASP website link.
The National Patient Counseling Competition is intended to promote and encourage further professional development of the student pharmacist. It also reinforces the role of the pharmacist as a health care provider and educator. Students are allotted five minutes to counsel a fake patient on a given drug and are evaluated based on their communication with the patient. Each pharmacy school sends one representative to the national competition. The representative is selected after a local competition within the school. This is a great opportunity to work on your patient counseling skills and the winner gets a free trip to the annual meeting, which will be in San Diego in 2008. SIUE placed in the top 10 in the 2006 competition in San Francisco; it was the first time that a first year student from a newly founded pharmacy school placed among the top ten nationally!
Legislative day is held each spring at the state capital in Springfield. Students from all of the Illinois pharmacy schools come together to represent the profession and speak directly to legislators regarding the critical issues that face pharmacists. This is the chance for the voice of our chapter to be heard! This is also a great event to network with the other state pharmacy schools as well as the Illinois Pharmacists Association (IPhA) and the Association of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). In 2007, each school created a poster regarding the new pharmacy practice act and presented it to state legislators at the evening reception.
The APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition is held each spring at a different location throughout the country. The annual meeting provides an opportunity for students to network with healthcare professionals and other student pharmacists to advance their professional knowledge, view the latest products and services, and shape the future of pharmacy. Student pharmacists come together in the House of Delegates to vote on new policies. There are also several breakout sessions that include patient counseling, executive officer workshops, patient care projects, chapter roundtables, student leadership development, and educational programs. The welcoming social is always a fun time. Students also vote on their national officers and new business items.
Our Chapter held its first official patient care project during the Valentine’s Day Fitness Fair at SIUE. Members, along with faculty, provided information and counseling to heartburn sufferers. We hope to get more patient care projects started in the near future . Below are links to some of the national patient care projects. If you are interested in getting one of these projects started at SIUE, please contact one of the chapter officers or faculty advisors.
This is an opportunity to network with executive officers from the other APhA-ASP chapters. The idea of SLI is to promote effective leadership. Through this workshop, you can gain insight to your type of leadership style and how you work best with others. It’s also a great place to exchange ideas with other APhA student leaders. The conference is held each year in Washington D.C. during July.
At the state fair held in August, 2006, we participated in free health screenings. This included blood pressuring monitoring and glucose testing along with medication and health history review. This is a great way to make a real difference in the community as well as get hands on experience in patient care.
APhA hosted its first annual trivia night Sept. 8th, 2006 at the Knights of Columbus in Edwardsville. Local businesses and other supporters donated prizes. We had overwhelming support from the SIUE faculty, students, and the surrounding community. We hope to keep this tradition going on in the years to come. A portion of the funds from the event went to support local charities.
Operation Holiday Humanity is a campaign that ASP has organized to help the Holy Angels Shelter in East St. Louis provide supplies to the homeless. In 2006, with the help of faculty and students, our chapter wrapped 47 personal care kits filled with toiletries and other needed items to give to the shelter. Our chapter also used proceeds from Trivia night to adopt 2 families at the Glen Ed Food pantry. We provided them with Christmas gifts and dinner.
American Pharmacists Month is held each October. In 2006, ASP crafted a banner to hang in the University Center. ASP members also built a “Pirates of the Caribbean” themed float and participated in the annual Edwardsville Halloween parade. We also sent postcards to preceptors thanking them for their dedication.
