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

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Update from the MPhA’s Student Desk

Hi, just checking in! I have been having a wonderful time here at MPhA, it is truly flying by. I feel like I completely lucked out on timing; getting to be here while the legislature is in session has provided me with a lot of really unique opportunities to see the capitol in motion, learn a lot about current policy topics (an interest area of mine!), and see how MPhA and other pharmacy organizations are involved in protecting and advancing our profession. Here are just a few of the really awesome things I have gotten to do so far:

·       Tour the Minnesota Capitol building (wow, beautiful!).

·       Attend a number of legislative committee meetings at the capitol, mostly on health and human services topics.

·       Develop the agenda and issue briefs for Legislative Day (Feb. 19) and discuss these with the UMN Students. Though we don’t have any bills in the senate, there are many awesome topics this year, including:

o   Pharmacy Practice Act changes: Speaking to our legislators about how the profession has changed, and recognizing pharmacists as patient care providers rather than medication dispensers.

o   Compounding: Reviewing the difference between compounding and manufacturing, where the boundaries are in Minnesota pharmacy practice, their importance relative to the NECC meningitis outbreak, and any change the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy may make to language.

o   Biosimilars: Reviewing what they are (essentially generic versions of biologic drugs, none are the market yet, but they are being presented to the FDA for testing and may hit the market soon), and issues to consider for future legislation regarding pharmacy substitution practices.

o   Pseudoephedrine reporting: Reviewing the pros and cons of the NPLEx system, an online reporting system with multiple states participating so that purchases can be tracked nationally.

o   Board of Pharmacy updates: Including changes in language for immunizing, electronic prescription records, and the prescription monitoring program.

·       Help with planning for and enjoy the MPhF Wine Tasting event!

·       Attend and serve on MPhA Board meetings, team meetings, steering committees, etc., as well as attend a Board of Pharmacy Meeting

·       Weigh in with the awesome MPhA/Ewald staff on pharmacy topics ranging from developing the magazine to communication items!

I’d like to say an extra big thank you to my preceptor Julie Johnson — and my adopted preceptors, Michelle Aytay and Jacquie Jaskowiak. I am learning so much from you and really enjoying working with you! Thank you also to the entire Ewald Consulting staff — you are all lovely and make me feel so welcome!

Much love,

Brittany Karns

Introducing Brittany Karns

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Introducing Brittany Karns:

I was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, and am the oldest of three. I worked as a pharmacy technician and then intern for six summers at Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center in Fairbanks, an Indian Health Service clinic that serves Alaskan Natives in the northern half of the state. I did my first year of undergrad at Oregon State University in Corvallis and then moved back home and finished up at University of Alaska, Fairbanks. I was very excited to get accepted to Pharmacy School at the University of Minnesota, and I have especially enjoyed being on the beautiful Duluth campus, where my intimate class of about 55 has become my true second family.

While at the COPD I really focused on expanding my leadership abilities. I am most proud of serving as the Minnesota Pharmacy Student Alliance co-president, being re-elected as my Class Representative four successive years, and, most recently, finishing a term as Region V Delegate to the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists. I also served as the UMD PharmD Fundraising Chair, Leadership Ambassador, was the teaching assistant for Leading Change in Pharmacy II, and sat on a number of committees in College Board. My PharmD IV Paper, The Minnesota Pharmacist Practitioner, focused on states and federal institutions that allow pharmacist prescribing and reviewed recommended updates to the Minnesota Pharmacy Practice Act.

I have had a very amazing set of rotations so far this year, starting with the healthcare policy elective in Germany along with seven of my Duluth classmates, which was one of the most exciting and unique experiences I could have asked for. I have also completed rotations at GuidePoint Pharmacy with Laurie Schwartzwald and just finished a three-block acute care rotation at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. I have a strong interest in political advocacy, policy development, and public health and I am very excited to be here at MPhA! I have also been asked to serve as the chair for the New Business Review Committee at the upcoming APhA Annual Meeting in Las Angeles, which I am very excited about.

I hope to go on to pursue a position as a clinical pharmacist and continue expanding pharmacy practice opportunities. I also hope to serve on my state pharmacists organization. While I think it’s likely I will return to Alaska, I have not yet figured out if it will be sooner or later. I enjoy cross-country skiing, snowboarding, travelling, reading, and socializing. My Strengthsfinder 2.0 signature themes are Connectedness, Includer, Developer, Intellection, and Input. If any of you come to visit Alaska – look me up, I would love to show you around!

Site Visits and Interviewing for Residencies

Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed spending time with their friends and family! This month has been quite busy for me, and I wanted to share with you the experiences I had completing site visits and interviewing for residencies out of state. During my travels to Las Vegas in early December to attend the ASHP Midyear Meeting, I met with several officers in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps to discuss residencies opportunities in the Indian Health Service (IHS). The Corps is an unarmed, uniformed service that includes an interdisciplinary team of health care professionals that respond to and support National medical needs posed by epidemics, as well as natural and manmade disasters. Corps officers are also involved in disease control and prevention, biomedical research, and the regulation of food and drugs. At the Meeting, I spoke with residency directors from six IHS sites and inquired about completing site visits in the two weeks following the conference. After conversing over email, I managed to schedule all six visits one week after returning from Las Vegas. Shortly before Christmas and within 48 hours of booking my flights, rental cars and hotel stays, I departed on my week-long excursion to visit and interview at six IHS sites in four states, within five days. Little did I know what I was in for!

To give you a taste of my travel arrangements, sit back and enjoy reading about my itinerary! I departed from Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport on Wednesday evening, December 12, and arrived in Phoenix six hours later after a layover in Denver. I then rented a car and stayed overnight at a hotel in Scottsdale. Thursday morning, December 13, I traveled to Phoenix Indian Medical Center for a site visit. The next morning, December 14, I drove four hours through three snow storms in the White Mountains to Whiteriver, AZ for an interview and site visit that afternoon at Whiteriver IHS Hospital. Following the visit, I drove five hours to Farmington, NM where I stayed at a hotel for the weekend. On Monday morning, December 17, I interviewed and visited the Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, NM. I then drove two hours south to Gallup Indian Medical Center for an interview and site visit that afternoon. I left Gallup, NM early that evening and traveled two hours east to Albuquerque and stayed at a hotel for the night. On Tuesday morning, December 18, I flew from Albuquerque to Tulsa, OK, managing to arrive six hours later after a two hour layover and delay in Dallas. The pharmacy resident from Claremore Indian Hospital graciously agreed to transport me to and from the airport for my site visit and interview at the Hospital. That evening I departed from Tulsa and flew five hours to Portland, OR with a layover in Salt Lake City, UT. After arriving in Portland, I rented a car and drove 2.5 hours east through the Cascade Mountain Range to Madras, OR where I stayed in a hotel for the night. That was by far the longest day with traveling through five states and three time zones, while being up for 22 hours! The following morning, December 19, I drove to Warm Springs, OR for a site visit and interview at Warm Springs Health and Wellness Center. After the visit, I drove two hours back to Portland over the mountain range through a blizzard at an elevation of 4,000 feet to catch a 6.5 hour flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport with a layover in Phoenix. Whew! Way too much traveling in such short amount of time, but WELL worth it!

This was truly an eye-opening experience and I learned a lot about opportunities for pharmacists to serve in the IHS and as a Corps officer. I met several well-renowned officers and pharmacists, and strengthened my passion for Public Health System pharmacy. As a pharmacy resident in the IHS and USPHS Commissioned Corps officer, I will protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of our Nation. I aspire to improve patient health outcomes and access to care, advance the profession, and improve global health through transformative thinking to catalyze change. I am greatly anticipating the Match results in February!

AWARxE Campaign: Initiative to Educate Middle School Students

I hope everyone is enjoying their week! I had an excellent visit at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy last week on November 28th. The College is one of two finalists for the Lawrence C. Weaver Transformative Community Service Award. Several individuals were in attendance to present their initiatives to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) team who was visiting and has the responsibility of deciding which of the finalists will receive this prestigious award. I attended all of the various presentations and supported Julie Johnson in her presentation focusing on advocacy efforts and the strong relationship between MPhA and the College. I spoke about the AWARxE campaign and our initiative to educate middle school students on the dangers of prescription misuse and abuse, the existence of rogue Internet pharmacies, the risk of acquiring counterfeit medications, as well as the approach student volunteers exploit while presenting to middle school students.

The AWARxE presentation is informal and the volunteers are encouraged to wear jeans and the AWARxE t-shirt to relate better with the students and avoid ‘preaching’ to them. The presentation facilitates a fun, relaxing atmosphere where students can learn about AWARxE and not be hesitant to ask questions or share stories. During the presentation, we provide a demonstration for the students to keep the crowd interested and engaged. This demonstration consists of displaying four containers on a table each containing a different ingredient such as milk, orange juice, and ginger ale. We then reveal a covered container that has the various ingredients combined with added oatmeal. After asking if any of the students would drink the mixture, and undoubtedly there are one or two eager students who agree to the challenge, we inquire if their agreement would be retracted knowing that syrup of ipecac was in the container. The purpose of this activity is to remind and educate students about the harmful effects that can result from participating in Skittles parties and consuming an unknown array of medications that can have fatal interactions or side effects.

The AACP team listened to my presentation on the AWARxE campaign and was impressed with the initiative middle schools are taking to use the College as a resource for educating their students about this important topic. Other presentations focused on transformative community partnerships and advocacy, service to rural regions and underserved urban areas, the College’s expansion to Duluth in an effort to improve access to care through graduating more students interested in rural pharmacy, as well as the multitude of community and public engagement initiatives taken by faculty and students. Student representatives from the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic (PNC), HOPE Clinic, Puebla Mexico trip, REACH Haiti group, and other entities were all present to provide the AACP team with examples of the College’s community engagement efforts and excellent outcomes. This was certainly a rewarding experience!

Melissa Katzenberger

Pharm.D. Candidate
University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy
Class of 2013

NECC Compounding Issue

Thanks for tuning in! On December 27th, I had the opportunity to attend the Board of Pharmacy meeting focused on addressing the New England Compounding Center (NECC) issue, as well as participate in a webinar hosted by the National Association of Board of Pharmacy (NABP). After talking with the Attorney General’s Office and referencing the Data Practices Act, the Board has determined that all inactive investigational data and reports against a pharmacy are considered public documents, unless the material states that it is private and privileged. The media requested the release of this information, but the Board is concerned that the documents, although public, will not be accurately interpreted and potentially falsely reported. The Board fears that its relationship with the compounding pharmacies and pharmacists will be adversely impacted if data are made available to the media without proper communication. In addition, the Board has devised a working group consisting of two Board members and two or more staff members with the charge of updating the format of the surveyor form to clearly define areas where action is required, while separating the summary of information generally discussed and recommended where action is not required. This was a concern of compounding pharmacists, as it was difficult to differentiate between the two.

In response to the NECC compounding issue, all Boards of Pharmacy have been contacted by Congress and required to answer specific questions inquired by the Senate and House of Representatives. NABP is contracting with the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to conduct inspections at high-risk compounding pharmacies in Minnesota and other states that are licensed by the Iowa Board. Training on USP 797 will be completed by NABP representatives conducting the investigations, as well as offered to all Board surveyors. The first wave of investigations will occur between December 2012 and February 2013 to identify traditional versus non-traditional compounding pharmacies. The Board is challenging NABP’s definition ‘non-traditional’ compounding, which includes bulk and sterile compounding, and argues that only two practices exist: compounding and manufacturing. A second wave of investigations will be conducted between March 2013 and June 2013 to discover if the traditional compounding pharmacies identified are practicing sterile versus non-sterile compounding. Throughout this process, NABP will be ensuring that the pharmacies are abiding by the rules and regulations established in Iowa and their resident state. Any potential violations found will be confirmed with the resident Board of Pharmacy before charging disciplinary action to be completed. The Board is not in agreement with NABP conducting the investigations, and would rather report information after having our surveyors visit the indicated pharmacies. Ultimately, NABP will be collating the data and documents gathered from the investigations to create e-Profiles for each of the high-risk compounding pharmacies, which will be made available to all Boards of Pharmacy and the public, if the latter is requested. On December 19, state Board of Pharmacy executives and the FDA are invited to attend an inter-government meeting to discuss the recent NECC compounding issue and explore the best way to provide oversight moving forward. Change is in progress!

Melissa Katzenberger

Pharm.D. Candidate
University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy
Class of 2013

MPhA Welcomes Melissa Katzenberger

Hello Readers! My name is Melissa Katzenberger and I am the next of Julie Johnson’s fourth-year pharmacy student bloggers! This is my leadership and administrative APPE rotation as a part of the Leadership Emphasis Area (LEA) through the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Over the next five weeks, I will be keeping you updated and engaged in the latest activities at the Minnesota Pharmacists Association (MPhA). At the end of each week, I will post a blog to share my experiences and insights with you. Stay tuned! I am excited to work with Julie, her staff, and Ewald Consulting as I spend my time with MPhA engaging in public policy, attending executive committee meetings, participating in symposiums and events hosted by MPhA, and learning how to further advocate for the profession of pharmacy!  I have already met many wonderful people and I look forward to working with everyone!

To start, I would like to share my story with you!  I was born and raised in Waukesha, WI, which is located just west of Milwaukee. My father, Rich, is the owner of two independent pharmacies in Waukesha and my mother, Judy, is an OB/GYN nurse. My middle brother, Dan, is a second-year pharmacy student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and my youngest brother, Dave, is working for UPS.  My family is certainly medically oriented, which makes the dinner conversations interesting! Throughout high school and my childhood, I was active in sports and band. I led our 200 member marching band in the 2004 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City as the lead drum major. I enjoyed playing soccer, basketball, and participating in track as a sprinter and pole vaulter.  This past summer I branched out to playing softball and had a blast!  In 2009, I graduated from Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI, with my Bachelor’s of Science degree in biology with minors in chemistry and Spanish. I love to travel and spend time outdoors! I enjoy kayaking, biking, roller blading, hiking, and skiing. I love to cook, especially new recipes, and one of my hidden talents is singing.

I am eager to learn about opportunities available for members of MPhA to become involved in advocating for our profession and advancing pharmacist-delivered health care.  Not to mention, I am super excited about having my own desk and work area! Until next time!

Alyssa Ferrie's Final Week

Hard to believe but my time at MPhA has come to an end. It has been a wonderful experience and I’ve had so many great opportunities. I was able to stay busy up until the very end! I attended the College of Pharmacy Career Fair and was able to explore many exciting career opportunities currently available in MN.  The staff and members are working hard to put together the next journal issue.  My article is finally in and I’m excited to work with the editors in the next few weeks.  I’m thankful that MPhA has a wonderful staff to help us amateurs out. I’m also thankful for accountants after sitting in on the finance meeting! The Annual Meeting Committee meeting this week was very exciting as the agenda is almost finalized and details should be out shortly. After attending a few other miscellaneous meetings with MPhA and the college, as well as completing some last minute projects, the week ended with attending the Women Impacting Healthcare conference on Friday. This was an amazing meeting and I hope that it continues for years to come. The conference was held through the Center for Leading Healthcare Change and focused on leadership specifically targeted toward women in healthcare.  My rotation with MPhA may be over but I’m confident that my involvement with them is not! I met so many wonderful people that work hard for the practice of pharmacy in MN. I want to thank everyone at MPhA, Ewald Consulting, and especially Julie Johnson for a fantastic experience! 

Alyssa Ferrie, Week 4

Week four has come to an end. Again I can’t believe how quickly the weeks have gone. I attended my first ever Board of Pharmacy meeting on Wednesday. It was wonderful to see so many students! Batool Dawood gave a fantastic presentation about the results of her survey which assessed the community pharmacist’s ability to counsel in a typical retail setting. We all are aware of the demands placed on pharmacists, technicians, and students in busy community pharmacies. Batool’s project has provided real data about patient counseling in current practice. Her results have shown us that we have some work to do to enable pharmacists to deliver optimal counseling in all settings. I am confident that you will be hearing more about this soon! On Thursday I attended the Public Affairs and Policy Committee and Community Pharmacy Business Coalition meetings. Most of the agenda focused on reviewing the Board of Pharmacy’s proposed legislative changes which were initially presented on Wednesday. I was able to witness firsthand how MPhA works with the board on important policy issues. I was amazed at our MPhA members’ ability to critically evaluate the proposed changes and their affect on pharmacists, pharmacy staff, the practice, and most importantly patients. There was a lot of good discussion and I am confident that MPhA and the Board of Pharmacy will continue to work hard together on reviewing the proposed changes and collaborating on language that both protects the public and the profession. My fun event for the week was presenting with Julie at the Minnesota Pharmacy Student Alliance meeting at the college. We did a quick overview of MPhA and ways that students can get involved. I encourage everyone to look into the many volunteer opportunities available or simply attend an upcoming event! I decided to take my own advice and volunteer to be a member of the steering committee which will be focusing on proposed practice act changes.  I’m excited about this opportunity to stay involved with MPhA after my rotation is over! I better get back to work on my journal article…

Alyssa Ferrie, Week 3

I can’t believe that I am finishing my third week with MPhA. Where did the time go? 

We had our fourth and final Pharmacy Night in Roseville on Tuesday.  It was a great turnout and fun to see so many familiar and new faces!  Much of my work this week continued to focus on the Fungal Meningitis outbreak. The spotlight has definitely been turned on the profession of pharmacy. Our profession has always worked hard to show the public that our number one priority is patient care and the health and safety of the public. Not surprisingly, this unfortunate occurrence is sparking a call to action by the public and subsequently our legislators. We are very lucky to have expert pharmacists in this state and legislators who recognize the importance of our input on any medication and patient safety issues.

Julie and I had the pleasure of joining students in the Social and Administrative Pharmacy program during their Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy seminar on Wednesday. As a class project they will be looking at the circumstances surrounding the outbreak and will focus on creating a policy agenda for our legislators. I really enjoyed being able to discuss policy with individuals who bring a lot of different background to the table. It also helps when you have been studying the issue for the past three weeks!  They have a wonderful opportunity to look at policy in real time and to position pharmacy in a pivotal role to address this concern. 

No doubt there is much more to come and MPhA will surely be involved all along the way! Next week I am looking forward to attending committee meetings and speaking at the Minnesota Pharmacy Student Alliance meeting on Thursday. Now to finish my journal article… 

Pharmacy Nights, Immunizations, and Legislative Issues

It’s already Friday… and two weeks with MPhA have flown by! I’ve had the opportunity to attend two Pharmacy Nights in Rochester and Alexandria. It has been wonderful meeting pharmacists throughout the state and everyone has enjoyed the Minnesota Department of Health Immunization presentation. On Wednesday (Oct. 17) I attended a Minnesota Coalition for Adult Immunization meeting. I was proud to report the strides pharmacists are making to increase immunization awareness and education. Pharmacists now give 20% of flu shots! Last Saturday I helped train 30 new immunizers. It is great to see so many pharmacists interested in joining the immunizing team! I encourage all pharmacists to keep up-to-date on current recommendations and schedules, as we are an important source of information and champion of immunizations.

This morning Julie Johnson and I met with Bethany Snyder, Senator Al Franken’s liaison for health issues in Minnesota, and spoke with Hannah Katch, the senator’s health policy advisor in DC. They were interested in learning more about MPhA and our legislative priorities. We spent a great amount of time discussing the recent fungal meningitis outbreak and issues surrounding compounding. I have worked hard to educate myself about this issue over the past couple of weeks. This situation has shown me how quickly things can come up and that it is important for the association to be as informed and engaged as possible. The outbreak is tragic and I think everyone in the profession extends their sympathies and is motivated to work together to do what we can to prevent any similar events in the future. I am amazed at how quickly the professional organizations and associations have responded and begun working together. Some may view this as a black mark for pharmacy — but I am confident that this will only highlight our professionalism and desire to deliver the highest quality of patient care.

I am learning about new things every day and I cannot wait to see what the coming weeks will bring!

Alyssa Ferrie

MPhA Welcomes Alyssa Ferrie

Hello! My name is Alyssa Ferrie. I am a fourth year pharmacy student at the University of MN College of Pharmacy-Twin Cities campus. I am just starting a five week leadership rotation with Julie Johnson here at MPhA. I love to be involved with the college and professional organizations. I am an active member of Kappa Psi, the Minnesota Pharmacy Student Alliance, Phi Lambda Sigma, and several of our state and national professional pharmacy organizations. I am an intern at the University of MN Medical Center-Fairview and work in both the University Discharge and Riverside Inpatient pharmacies. I have enjoyed all of my rotations so far which have included an independent community pharmacy, a patient care elective in mental health at the St. Peter Treatment Facility, and the emergency department at Essentia St. Mary’s in Duluth. I have a BA in Psychology from the University of MN-College of Liberal Arts and have loved every minute of my eight years in Minneapolis.  I am originally from Moorhead, MN (home of the Spuds and the Dilly Bar). My parents still live up North and I try to get up to see them as much as I can. I have one younger brother who is a civil engineer in Wahpeton, ND and we actually like each other! I am true Minnesotan and enjoy spending as much time as I can outdoors camping, canoeing, hunting, fishing, hiking, and biking. I am an active intramural sports participant and play on volleyball, softball, kickball, and flag football teams throughout the year. I may even try my hand at broomball this winter! I live for travel and count my month long backpacking tour of Europe and my four trips to Nicaragua as some of the best experiences of my life. My special talent is making lefse and my guilty pleasure is singing karaoke. I have already learned so much about MPhA and pharmacy in our state and I am looking forward to the coming weeks!

5 weeks in review

Well, my time here at MPhA has come to an end. I am sad to leave. 

I have learned much in my five weeks at MPhA about how an organization is really ran and the things that it takes to keep a machine like this running. I also got to have lunch with Matt Lemke, MPhA’s (and all of pharmacy’s) lobbyist and learned about his job.  Lowell Anderson, Matt Lemke and I also produced a timeline for the new pharmacy practice act revision – which you should all know about and give input on; it’s going to change the way you practice pharmacy in the near future! You can read more about it here:
www.pharmacy.umn.edu/clhc/prod/groups/cop/@pub/@cop/documents/content/cop_content_391552.pdf

I also had the opportunity to present on this new timeline and the DEA ruling on faxed prescriptions at the Policy Affairs and Community Pharmacy Business Coalition meetings.

I am now off to St. Cloud to try my hand at Ambulatory Care with the VA. I am excited for this rotation: as a veteran, I have long looked forward to my opportunity to work with this patient population. However, it is going to be hard to leave Julie Johnson. She has been a great preceptor and mentor; the most important things I learned from this rotation, I learned from watching her interact with others. I am glad to have made a friend in her, which is what made this rotation so great.

Thanks for everything Julie!

Pharmacy Advocacy

This week I traveled up to Duluth with Julie for Pharmacy Nights. We heard Brent Thompson talk about the Pharmacy Practice Act Working Group’s progress.  If you haven’t heard about this yet, there is a group who is currently going through the Minnesota pharmacy practice act line by line and making suggestions for change to modernize it. The intent is to ensure that pharmacists in the future have a wider scope of practice that enables them to fully participate in a changing health care model. Tiffany Elton alerted us to the methadone abuse situation in Duluth, and the Department of Health educated us all about immunizations.

On Thursday, I attended my first MPhA Board of Directors meeting. This was a great opportunity to learn more about how the matters that affect pharmacy in Minnesota are dealt with. Earlier that same day, I attended an MPhA financial meeting, during which I learned about the different sources of funding and expenses of MPhA.

This week at MPhA has given me a more in depth view of pharmacy advocacy that I’m sure will benefit me in my future career.

Fall Business

It’s hard to believe that this rotation is already half over; the time has gone by very quickly!

I started my week early by attending the Fall Symposium at the Ewald Conference Center. I learned about current events for pharmacy including progress on JNC-8 and upcoming changes to Medicare Part D. On Wednesday, I attended my first Board of Pharmacy meeting. To those students who haven’t taken this opportunity yet – I highly recommend it! Attending the Board meeting gave me a new perspective on how state statutes affect the practice of pharmacy here in Minnesota. There were several interesting presentations given while I was there, including the new Walgreens model proposition. I rounded out my week by attending the MSHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and getting more information on the residencies available to me here in Minnesota.

Encourage your friends to join MPhA today!

Well, here we are at the end of week two already. The time has gone by quickly here. The new MPhA journal, which will go out to ALL pharmacists in the state of Minnesota has been edited several times. I think this is a very cool opportunity for us all. With every pharmacist holding a copy of the journal in their hands this month, it is a great time to reach out to other pharmacists and encourage them to join MPhA if they are not already members.  We have tried to highlight some of the advantages of MPhA membership in the journal – there will be an article talking about the Accountable Care Act, what it means and how we got to where we are today. Also, there is a story about the PBM auditing bill – MphA helped make this possible!  That is a great speaking point for recruitment; MPhA has helped improve the workplaces of ALL pharmacists in the state, including those who aren’t members.  Won’t you help us advance pharmacy in Minnesota by becoming members?

Also this week, we were able to reach out to the new first year pharmacy students. At a meeting on campus, I met up with our MPhA liaison, Amy Herbranson , and we talked to students about the benefits of MPhA. As students, they are all eager to pitch in and promote pharmacy in Minnesota – even though they are on student salaries. Unfortunately, when students finish school, many of them do not continue to be members of MPhA.  I was talking with Julie about this issue prior to the meeting, and suggested to her that we should have discounted rates for new pharmacists while they pay down their student loans.  Did you know that MPhA already does this? I did not, so I will share with you what I found out.

My apologies if this week’s blog has sounded like an advertisement for MPhA; after seeing the things that MPhA does for its members, I have a hard time understanding why so many pharmacists in Minnesota do not continue to support the organization. Encourage your friends to join MPhA today!  ;)

MPhA Welcomes Zach Merk!

Hello all!  My name is Zach Merk, the next of Julie Johnson’s fourth year pharmacy student bloggers. One of the first things that I noticed when I started this rotation was the list of names of Julie’s white board. What an illustrious list of names. I was surprised at both how many names I recognized, and how many of those names that I viewed as leaders of our profession. I hope that I am able to someday further this tradition. 

Since we will be spending a few weeks together, allow me to share a little bit of my background with you.  I grew up in rural southwest Iowa, and moved to Wisconsin when I was 15. I finished high school there and went to UW- Stout for undergrad.  I served in the Army National Guard for nine years, and deployed to Iraq for 18 months with the Infantry half-way through my BS in Applied Science. Upon completion of undergrad, I chose to take a year off and move to San Diego; the beach had been calling my name for a number of years already. Having soaked up enough sun, for now at least, I traveled back to the frozen tundra and prepared for pharmacy school at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. I now find myself pursuing the Leadership Emphasis Area, which has lent me the opportunity to choose this rotation as my leadership APPE.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect on this rotation. I suspected that I would spend some time at the capitol, attend a number of meetings, and take some time to learn about how to advocate for my profession. Already this week, I have made minor contributions towards the MPhA journal coming out in September, updated presentations for AWARxE, participated in meetings and phone conferences, and learned a lot about MPhA and what it means to advocate for the profession full time. I am looking forward to the opportunities with MPhA that already checker my upcoming calendar. Plus, I’ve got my own desk and work space, which is pretty luxurious for an APPE student!

The End?.....I Think Not!

Today is the last day of my 5-week Leading Change rotation with MPhA, and it has been a blast!  I am so sad that it has come to an end, but am I am confident that the things I have learned will benefit me in my upcoming rotations and more importantly, in my future career.  I especially thank my wonderful preceptor, Julie Johnson, for her mentorship and for all that she does for the members of MPhA. 

I am also grateful to have been a part of MPhA during a time of significant positive change in the organization.  What kind of change, you ask? Well, for one thing, MPhA made an important change in how the association is managed and how members are served by contracting with Ewald Consulting, the premier association management company in Minnesota.  Now experts in association management are working to provide MPhA members with the highest quality newsletters, educational opportunities, events, and more, and I have been lucky enough to meet and work with some of these people at Ewald during my time at MPhA.

Perhaps the biggest change that MPhA has recently initiated is the introduction of the Organizational Memberships.  Now pharmacists and pharmacy technicians not only have the option of obtaining membership as individuals, but several employers have contracted with MPhA to provide membership to all of their pharmacists and technicians!   So far the organizational members include Walgreens, Goodrich Pharmacy, Trumm Drug, and the list is growing.  What does this mean for the association?  It means not only a larger membership pool, but also more energy and activity within the organization, as MPhA works to engage new members to utilize the association and be involved in moving the profession forward.  

So, as sad I am that this rotation has ended, I leave it excited about the future of MPhA.  The association is growing and evolving, so get on board!

A Report from the Capitol

Happy Friday MPhA! I’m writing to you from the rotunda of the Minnesota State Capitol Building, where a Special Legislative Session was just adjourned.  As you may or may not know, Governor Mark Dayton recently approved this special session in order to address the disaster relief needs of those affected by this summer’s Northland storms and flooding.

Although I’ve watched legislative sessions on television before (I do watch other things as well, I promise), this was the first time I had attended a live session at the MN State Legislature.  

The session I attended was the Senate session starting at two 'clock in the afternoon.  Shortly after the session started, a half-hour break was called during which we waited for the results of the House session on the Disaster Relief Bill.  When the Senate reconvened, it was announced that the House had approved the bill, which provides about 167.5 million dollars to communities affected by this summer’s natural disaster.  Among the many provisions in the bill was financial aid for transportation systems, displaced families, as well as  “Quick Start” program to help makes homes severely affected by the disaster livable again.  After several readings of the bill and testimonials, the bill also passed the Senate after a 60-7 vote.

I am so glad that I had the chance to observe this session during my rotation with MPhA.  Not only did I appreciate the opportunity to witness the proceedings of a Senate session from start to finish, but I also had a lot of fun watching the different legislators from atop the Senate gallery, including my own senator from Falcon Heights.  As I watched them whispering to and catching up with their friends, and being asked to quiet down several times by the Senate president, I couldn’t help being reminded of a classroom of eager young kids, or for that matter, a classroom of eager young pharmacy students!  

Another great experience that I had today was the opportunity to go to the Upsher-Smith Headquarters in Maple Grove, MN, in order to attend the MPhA Board of Directors Retreat and Orientation.  I not only got to learn more about the role of the Board of Directors at this meeting, and participate in a fun painting activity planned by MPhA’s new president Martin Erickson, but I also got to learn about our hosts as well.  The folks at Upsher-Smith were very gracious, and a few of the pharmacists working for the company, which was actually founded by a pharmacist back in 1919, even joined us for lunch. 

Oh, how the time flies! I am sad to say that I only have one more week remaining in this rotation, but I am looking forward to a great last week with MPhA!

Public Policy is in the Air

August Greetings MPhA! 

I hope you are all savoring the end of summer and looking forward to the start of the Great MN Get-Together tomorrow! (Assuming that you are into the deep-fried fun and endless people/animal watching…I have yet to meet very many Minnesotans that aren’t!). Anyhow, it’s hard to believe that I have already been on rotation with MPhA for three-and-a-half weeks! 

Over the past few weeks I’ve been lucky enough to participate in several interesting meetings and conference calls with MPhA Executive VP Julie Johnson.  My favorite thus far has been the Quarterly Public Policy Pace/McKesson Call.  During this call, representatives of McKesson’s Public Policy team spoke with pharmacy association leaders from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and of course, Minnesota! The purpose of the meeting was three-fold:  (1) It allowed us at MPhA (and the other pharmacy associations) to hear from one of McKesson’s regional Public Policy Team Directors on state and national legislative issues that directly affect pharmacy (2) It allowed McKesson to hear about the policy work being done by the various pharmacy associations, and (3) It allowed the associations to share with each other policy updates, success stories, and challenges being faced in their respective states.  McKesson, being the largest pharmaceutical distributor in North America, as well as a significant provider of Health IT services, is often involved in the similar policy-related efforts as the pharmacy associations.  Communicating with their policy leaders can often strengthen the efforts of the pharmacy associations, and provide useful insight for policy development and legislative advocacy on behalf of the profession.

You may be wondering, what were some of the policy issues discussed at the meeting? One of the big topics was the expansion of Medicaid services, and the development of insurance exchanges and information exchanges under the PPACA.  It was interesting to hear how different states are handling these issues, and how for the most part, many are waiting to see what happens this November at the polls before moving forward on these issues.  I am very curious to see how pharmacy can be involved particularly in the information exchanges, as I believe health care providers everywhere, including pharmacists in all practice sites, need better access to patients’ comprehensive medical histories in order to make the best therapy decisions. 

Did you know that in MN, Governor Dayton has put together a MN Health Reform Task Force to tackle these issues, as well as several Work Groups that have been meeting regularly for the past year?  These meetings are all open to the public.  If you are interested in learning more, take a look at this schedule: http://mn.gov/health-reform/images/Proposed-Meeting-Schedule-2012-07-31a.pdf.  I’m looking forward to the Access meeting in St. Paul next week!

On another policy-related note, did you know that the MN State Legislature might be meeting for a special session this Friday?  If the Governor approves the special session, I’ll be attending with MPhA’s state capitol representative Matt Lemke, and I’ll make sure to tell you all about it!