What a week!

My name is Maggie Wallace.  I am a recent graduate from North Dakota State University and am currently a Pharmaceutical Care Leadership Resident at the University of Minnesota.  I started a professional advocacy rotation at MPhA this week and it has been quite a week!  I’ll share a few highlights with you…

I find the political process fascinating!  On Wednesday, I was able to see a bit of this process in action.  We met with a Senator to discuss the third-party audit standardization bill that has been a focus for MPhA this legislative session.   She had been approached previously about this piece of legislation and on Wednesday she agreed to be our primary author in the Senate!  The bill will be introduced early next week.  I look forward to following this bill closely this session. 

Thursday was spent at Century Middle School in Lakeville working with the AWAR_xE campaign.  AWAR_xE is a national campaign that was founded by the Minnesota Pharmacists Foundation.  Borne out of unfortunate circumstances that took place in MN in 2006 resulting in the death of a 24 year old man, AWAR_xE now provides information and education to the public about medication safety, prescription drug abuse, medication disposal, and safely buying medications on the internet.  The 8^th graders welcomed us into their health classroom and we spent the day talking to them about something that they don’t hear a lot about:  prescription drug abuse and misuse.  A good time was had by all and I think the students really learned something in the process. 

It’s been a great first week and I look forward to seeing what next week brings.  Until then, wishing you all the best!