By Mohamed Dungersi<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Last month, I had the immense opportunity to travel to New Orleans to be a part of the biggest pharmacy gathering of the year \u2013 APhA 2012. \u00a0The spirit, enthusiasm, and positivity for the profession of pharmacy at the meeting were truly inspiring. \u00a0Since this was my first ever APhA meeting, I feel that it would be appropriate for me to provide some practical advice and guidance to future APhA meeting attendees.<\/p>\n
Firstly, be sure to get as much information about the meeting ahead of time from resources, such as the official website, APhA e-mails, and local APhA-ASP events about the meeting. \u00a0This year, APhA introduced a smartphone application, which was incredibly easy to use. \u00a0I found this application to be priceless, as it was the center of my planning. \u00a0Since the annual meeting was incredibly large, it was natural that there were plenty of events running at the same time at many different locations. \u00a0\u00a0It is imperative that you know exactly where you have to be at a specific time.\u00a0 The application allows you to select scheduled events; it places them conveniently in a personal schedule with all the necessary information you will need.<\/p>\n
Knowing which events to attend can also be extremely challenging. It is important to consider your goals for attending the meeting whilst initially choosing events to attend. \u00a0Personally, my priority was to attend the Rho Chi Annual meeting, since I was our chapter\u2019s delegate. \u00a0I also decided to attend Phi Lambda Sigma\u2019s annual meeting, since I am also an active member of the organization.\u00a0 Apart from that, I had the responsibility of attending some events to represent our APhA-ASP chapter. \u00a0After I scheduled myself for these events, I was able to get a clearer picture of my free time, which I used to attend other interesting events, the exposition, and certain local sites.<\/p>\n
If you will be attending the meeting in the future for the first time, I highly recommend attending the \u201cAPhA-ASP Welcome for first Timers\u201d event. \u00a0Despite being at 8:30 in the morning on Saturday (and bearing in mind that the opening social the night before ended late), the event was a full house with no room to spare.\u00a0 The event was just what every first-timer needed. \u00a0It provided students the opportunity to network with each other as an icebreaker, as well as provided tips on how to network with fellow professionals. \u00a0The event also proved to be a vital guide to the types of events that students should attend. \u00a0The enthusiastic and joyful mood was also very refreshing. \u00a0Leaving this event, I felt that I had a clearer picture of the kinds of events I wanted to attend during my free time.<\/p>\n
The largest of the events, by far, was the APhA exposition. \u00a0The APhA exposition was a one-of-a-kind marketplace to visit and explore with over 150 exhibiting companies. \u00a0APhA attendees met face-to-face with industry leaders and organizational representatives, as they demonstrated new products, discussed exciting new services, and answered questions.\u00a0 It was a great opportunity for me to see the nationwide progress of pharmacy, especially in terms of technology, growth, and development. \u00a0You will also have a wonderful opportunity to network with some of the professions leaders and possibly a future employer.<\/p>\n
At the time of the trip, I was on rotations at Town Total Health in Melville, which is a distance pharmacy that offers Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services to its patients nationwide. \u00a0I was and still am, very keen to study about the increasing role of MTM in healthcare. \u00a0I attended a session presented by APhA-ASP entitled, \u201cImplementing MTM in your future practice.\u201d \u00a0This session focused on challenges to overcome and methods to enable local pharmacies to begin providing MTM services. \u00a0The event truly lived up to its expectations.<\/p>\n
I also managed to attend events that had more information regarding residencies nationwide. \u00a0It was a great opportunity to learn of residency options outside of the tri-state area and to learn about the additional opportunities that come with conducting an out-of-state residency. \u00a0There was also an opportunity to speak to current residents to gain a sense of the day-to-day duties of each residency. \u00a0If any student is interested in conducting a residency or fellowship, these wonderful events will cater you well.<\/p>\n
As a member of APhA, there are some wonderful events to attend, including the APhA opening general session.\u00a0 This year, it featured a popular speaker, Thomas Goetz. \u00a0Also, be sure to attend the APhA-ASP (Region 1) caucus to share your opinion, as well to listen to the opinions of others in regards to proposed resolutions. \u00a0Students voted on each resolution after any comments or concerns were voiced. \u00a0Similarly, attending the APhA-ASP House of Delegates sessions is vital to get a better understanding of the policy changes that student pharmacists would like to have.\u00a0 If you are on the executive board for the APhA-ASP chapter at our school, it is necessary for you to attend workshops that are specific to your position.\u00a0 These workshops serve as guides for you to maximize your potential as a student leader.<\/p>\n
One of the events recommended at the first timer\u2019s event was the Walmart Leadership Training series. \u00a0Introduced in 2007, the Walmart Leadership Training Series (LTS) is a four part series offered over the four professional four years of a student pharmacist\u2019s education. \u00a0Upon completion of the series, participants will receive an APhA-ASP LTS Recognition of Participation, signed by the APhA Executive Vice President and the APhA-ASP National President. \u00a0This is an excellent CV or resume builder.\u00a0 One can obtain the certificate by attending a variety of sessions at either the Annual Meeting, Midyear Regional Meetings (MRMs), and\/or the Summer Leadership Institute (APhA SLI).\u00a0 For more information on this, please visit http:\/\/www.pharmacist.com\/AM\/Template.cfm?Section=Leadership_Training_Series<\/a><\/p>\n I attended the APhA-ASP General Student Leadership Development Workshop as part of the LTS. \u00a0This session comprised of an interactive and full of life presentation by Mr. Ben Thankachan, who currently serves as a senior OTC buyer at Sam\u2019s Club. \u00a0The presentation focused on his personal leadership journey through graduation to his current position.\u00a0 It also focused on understanding the characteristics of a true leader.\u00a0 Attending this session alone would have been worth the travel. \u00a0The inspiration and positivity from this session is something I will hold on to for a very long time. \u00a0I will leave you with a quote by John Buchan shared by Mr. Thankachan during this session, \u201cThe task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Mohamed Dungersi – Last month, I had the immense opportunity to travel to New Orleans to be a part of the biggest pharmacy gathering of the year \u2013 APhA 2012. \u00a0The spirit, enthusiasm, and positivity for the profession of pharmacy at the meeting were truly inspiring. \u00a0Since this was my first ever APhA meeting,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[343,193,41,2227,314,20,14,340,363,968,1625,12,11,34,33,21,1161,696,1061],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-advice-opinions","tag-and","tag-annual","tag-apha","tag-ebola-virus-disease","tag-for","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-met","tag-of","tag-one","tag-or","tag-pharmacist","tag-pharmacy","tag-residency","tag-student","tag-study","tag-therapy","tag-types","tag-with"],"views":573,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419","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=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}