By: Tracey Li, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015
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The American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) holds the only meeting designed for student pharmacists, the Midyear Regional Meeting (MRM). This year, the MRM took place in Washington, D.C. from November 1-3. In past years, the MRM has always been a gathering of the APhA-ASP chapters from one region but this year, Region 1&2 and Region 7&8 piloted joint meetings. As our St. John’s University chapter belongs to Region 1, we were able to partake in one of the first combined MRMs.
The meeting began on Friday evening with a leadership workshop and continued with an energizing opening general session. The night concluded with the roaring twenties themed welcoming social and reception.
Saturday morning started off with coffee and workshops that engaged pharmacy students of all years. The pharmacy career panel educated students about the different options in pharmacy practice. An interview workshop prepared students applying for jobs, internships, and post-graduate programs. In the afternoon, students were given the opportunity to explore the MRM expo, speak with the candidates running for regional offices, and attend more workshops. Concluding the full day of activities was the policy proposal forum, in which proposed resolutions from various schools in the region were presented and commented on.
On Sunday, the Generation Rx Workshop inspired students to think of new ideas for their own chapter’s patient care projects. The weekend-long meeting concluded with the closing business session, where proposed and corrected resolutions were voted on, and regional officers were elected.
One of our first time MRM attendees, Danny Mathan, explained, “Attending MRM this past November was an amazing experience. It taught me so much about pharmacy and has made me eager to learn more and become more involved within our APhA chapter. I will definitely be attending MRM next year.” APhA-ASP MRMs are an exciting environment to meet other student pharmacists and see firsthand how students can shape our profession. MRM 2013 served as a stepping-stone to APhA’s Annual Meeting, which will be held in Orlando, Florida from March 28-31. We look forward to seeing you there!
