Sean Kenny - Week 4

Hi Everyone,

The Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday the 13^th highlighted my fourth week at MPhA.  This recent MPhA board of directors meeting was the second meeting that I have attending in the past year.  My first board of directors meeting was a completely different experience than my second.  At the time of my first board meeting I did not have an appropriate understanding of the focus of the meeting and moreover did not understand the goals of MPhA.  Since the start of my MPhA rotation I have gained a greater appreciation for MPhA as an organization.  I now understand the role of MPhA in advancing the profession of pharmacy.  While on rotation I have been able to participate in MPhA meetings, observe meetings at the capital related to pharmacy practice, and update information on the website creating resources for members.  As a result of these experiences I was able to follow most of the information discussed at the most board of directors meeting and even contribute to some of the discussion.  What I have taken away from my experiences at MPhA is the importance of the professional organization and what it means to advocate for the profession of pharmacy.     

Later in the week I had my leadership presentation and class meeting, which made me excited about finishing up my pharmacy education.  Studying pharmacy at the college has been a long and interesting process.  Only now do I feel like I am getting the big picture about what pharmacy means and what I want to do with it.  I am excited about the future and hope that I can act as an advocate and support for my fellow pharmacists in the community. 

During the next week I am planning on finishing up work on a couple of projects, spending a day at the capital with Matt, writing a report about student loan repayment options, and wrapping up.  It seems like these past four weeks have flown by and I know that the last will go even quicker.  My next blog will contain more information about lasting impressions.  Keep an eye out for it.

Sean  

Sean, Week 3

Hi Everyone,

During the third week of my rotation at MPhA I have completed work on a couple of projects that I started in the previous two week and also started some new ones.  I have wrapped up my work on the immunization webpage update and am excited to see how the results pan out online.  I took a comprehensive approach to working on this project and wanted to provide all of the information that a pharmacist in all areas of practice may require and would more so appreciate having access to. 

This week I continued to work on the continuing education project that is focused at providing independent study opportunities for pharmacists in the community.  I have been working with Renee to obtain the information that we need to accredit the CE material.  To obtain some of the material I have contacted the South Dakota Pharmacist Association, but have not been able to speak to anyone at this time.  I will continue in the next week to try to connect with them so that we can obtain the information we need to continue with the CE implementation. 

Also during the week I was able to attend and participate in MPhA’s professional and public affairs meetings.  These meetings were really interesting and I gained more of an understanding about the focus of MPhA and also about ways in which we can advance the profession of pharmacy.  In the upcoming week we are going to have the board of directors meeting at headquarters and I will continue to update and monitor legislature at the capital.  Look forward to my updates.

-Sean

Sean Kenny - Week 2

Hello Everyone,

My second week at MPhA began with a snowstorm.  As a consequence of the snow I spent the first few days of the week working on updating the pharmacist immunization page on the MPhA website.  I was able to update the important immunization information and even find some new information about the Minnesota Vaccines for Children Program.  It was interesting to review immunization information and evaluate how guidelines have changed since the last time I review them.  I am excited to see how the webpage turns out. 

Later in the week Lindsay and I went back to the capital for a follow-up meeting with the Minnesota Health Care Reform Task Force.  Some of the topics discussed during the meeting included updates on CMMI opportunities, an update on the citizens league, and also a panel discussion with administrators from major health care systems around the state.  The panel discussion was the most interesting section of the meeting because the organizations voiced their concerns about health care reform and unanimously seemed to support standardization of care across hospital systems.  I will continue to attend the task force meetings and follow their progress.

I wrapped up the week by working on a project to make independent study continuing education an option for pharmacy members of MPhA.  We are still at the early stages of the project, but I have been able to review some of the education material and begin to work with Renee to verify information and obtain accreditation for the education credits.  Next week I will continue to work on the CE project and hopefully have a working draft by the end of the week.      

Welcome, Sean Kenny!

Hello everyone. My name is Sean Kenny and I am a fourth-year pharmacy student from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy on rotation with Julie Johnson from MPhA. I have just finished my first week with MPhA and have already learned loads about what professional organizations do.

The week started off by Lindsay, Julie, and myself finishing the final preparations for Legislative Day at the Capitol. Legislative Day started at the University Club in Saint Paul in the morning. I had never been to Legislative Day so everything about this experience was new to me. During the morning we had a number of presentations and discussion about important issues in pharmacy and why they are important for the profession of pharmacy and patient care. I found this discussion especially rewarding because I was able to meet and speak with many interesting people. I gained a greater understanding about the importance of pharmacy advocacy as a result of this experience. After the morning I went to the capital and helped to direct pharmacy advocates to their various representatives. I have not been to the capital in many years and it was exciting and refreshing to see all of the action going on downtown.

Later during the week I had the opportunity to attend two meeting including a MN Board of Pharmacy meeting a MN Healthcare Reform Access Task Workforce meeting. I had never been to a BOP meeting and it was interesting to gain an understanding of the process. During the meeting various members of the pharmacy community spoke with the goal of obtaining variances for individual needs. The BOP seemed to care about the concerns of the speakers and acted in a way that was fair and balanced. The MN Healthcare Task Workforce meeting was very different from the BOP meeting. It was much more formal and seemed less focused. There were several instances when the meeting had to be refocused because the discussion had gotten off topic. Although, there was a little diversion along the way, the committee was able to come to a consensus by the end of the meeting.

In the upcoming weeks I look forward to learning more about pharmacy advocacy and also learning about leadership skills from the MPhA team. 

Thanks,

Sean Kenny