Friday, February 22, 2013

Lessons Learned from a Rotation at MPhA

My time with MPhA has gone much much too rapidly. Here are some of the things I learned:

  • Quite a bit about organizational management, including all of the factors that have to be considered when making decisions, from financial to event planning.
  • How to improvise and always think one step ahead to keep events running smoothly.
  • How committee meetings at the Capitol are run, and how issues are explored and decisions made on the legislative level.
  • Just how busy our legislators really are!
  • Quite a bit about the legislative topics I got to research, including biosimilars and compounding.
  • Good ways to contact legislators and advance pharmacy interests, including how easy it is to call and set up a meeting. I especially appreciated a lot of the tips brought up by pharmacists and Rep. Kim Norton at Legislative Day about ways to keep in contact. Some of those tips included emailing (Rep. Norton said to include your zip code, and keep it short -- they don't need all the facts, and it's okay to  tell your legislator you follow the MPhA lobbyist and hope they listen to them for information) and attending town hall meetings.
  • Always keep thinking positively.
  • How to work with Ewald staff, including getting harassed a little ;).

Thank you so much to everyone I have worked with; I had a wonderful five weeks and I hope to continue staying involved with MPhA!

Brittany Karns
PharmD Class 2013
University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy

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