By Pamela Soh and Kylee Kastelic, P3s
The American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) mid-year regional meeting for region 7 was held in Spokane, Washington October 26-28th 2012. APhA-ASP MRMs are the only professional meetings in the U.S. designed exclusively for student pharmacists. MRMs take place every fall in each of the eight APhA-ASP regions across the country. Approximately 14 students accompanied by one faculty advisor, Dr. Juancho Ramirez, represented the OSU/OHSU College of Pharmacy. During the meeting, the students attended several sessions including leadership development, patient care project workshops, and advocacy for the profession. Our chapter was also represented at the national Phi Lambda Sigma and Rho Chi sessions. For the first time during the mid-year meeting pharmacy colleges within Region 7 were recognized for their efforts during the past year on patient care projects. Patient care projects continue to be a large focus of our student chapter. We have at least one outreach per week focusing on different topics such as blood pressure or diabetes. During the meeting four awards were presented in the areas of Operation Heartburn Awareness, Operation Diabetes, Operation Immunization, and Operation Heart recognizing the best efforts and impact within the community. Our student chapter won two of these awards. Congratulations to Operations Diabetes and Heartburn region 7 winners! We will also be recognized at the APhA annual meeting in Los Angeles in March 1-4th 2013.