By: Zachary Reale, PharmD Candidate c\/o 2018<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Every April, pharmacists and pharmacy students from all across New York State gather in Albany for Pharmacy Lobby Day. The event, organized by the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (PSSNY), is held in collaboration with many other New York State pharmacy associations including the Student Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (SPSSNY).\u00a0 The day is an opportunity for pharmacists and future pharmacists to meet with the state legislative body and discuss laws and regulations that affect the profession on a daily basis.\u00a0 It is a unique chance to advance the field of pharmacy as well as build relationships with fellow professionals.<\/p>\n
The day takes place at the state\u2019s Capitol Hill and starts off in the performing arts center known as \u2018The Egg.\u201d\u00a0 After a welcome by the leaders of PSSNY, legislative experts briefed the pharmacy lobbyists on each bill, highlighting key points and healthcare benefits.\u00a0 It was a time for everyone to be brought up to speed on the issues at hand and ask any questions regarding the year\u2019s potential new laws. Tips and pointers for speaking with politicians were also given to help out any first-time attendees.\u00a0 Afterwards, preassigned teams of students and pharmacists met one another for the first time and then it was off to meet the legislators. This year, there were three specific bills on the agenda.\u00a0 The first bill, if passed, would authorize registered pharmacy interns to administer vaccines to adults.\u00a0 Most importantly, this initiative would help train student pharmacists more effectively.\u00a0 It would ensure that newly graduated New York pharmacists would be as marketable as students from the other 46 states that already allow registered pharmacy interns to administer vaccines.<\/p>\n
The second bill would expand the vaccines administered by pharmacists to include all CDC-recommended vaccines for adults.\u00a0 This would help improve patient accessibility to important vaccinations, especially in medically underserved areas such as rural upstate and western New York.\u00a0 Additionally, this would be a huge leap forward in promoting public health by increasing adult immunization rates for Tdap, influenza, pneumococcal and HPV vaccines.<\/p>\n
The third bill would require pharmacy technicians to be registered and certified as well as establish educational requirements for them.\u00a0 In a state that currently has no direct jurisdiction over pharmacy technicians, this legislation is much needed.\u00a0 Above all it would protect the public from mistakes made within the pharmacy due to insufficient training or unqualified staffing.\u00a0 Technicians would be held accountable for actions when dealing with controlled substances and would have to meet minimum education requirements.<\/p>\n
All three bills would significantly improve the practice of pharmacy in New York State.\u00a0 It was up to the students and pharmacists at Pharmacy Lobby Day to share meaningful stories and experiences in hopes of conveying the importance of passing each bill.\u00a0 It was crucial to demonstrate the positive impact that each bill would have on, not only the pharmacy profession, but also on the health and safety of the public.<\/p>\n
Only time and the vote of each legislator will determine which bills will be passed into law and which bills will be put back to be lobbied again next year.\u00a0 No matter the case, Pharmacy Lobby Day will always be a success.\u00a0 It is an incredible opportunity for both seasoned pharmacists and student pharmacists to advocate on behalf of the profession of pharmacy.\u00a0 Most of all, it is an event that should be attended by all pharmacy students across the state and serves to only benefit the pharmacy profession.<\/p>\n
Each year in April the College of Pharmacy sends out an informational email to all years of Pharmacy students. There is no cost to attend and the school provides a bus for all students going. Many pharmacy organizations also advertise the event and encourage members to attend. Attending this event will only improve your experience as a future pharmacist and it is a great way to get involved.\u00a0 Be on the look out for next year\u2019s\u00a0 e-mail!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By: Zachary Reale, PharmD Candidate c\/o 2018 – Every April, pharmacists and pharmacy students from all across New York State gather in Albany for Pharmacy Lobby Day. The event, organized by the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (PSSNY), is held in collaboration with many other New York State pharmacy associations including the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-advice-opinions"],"views":902,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}