March 2024
Dear Section for Clinical Specialists and Scientists Members,
I hope this message finds you all doing well! It feels like just yesterday we returned from the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition excited to implement the best practices we learned. There are so many exciting things coming up! We are preparing for residency Match day. We will be voting on ASHP policies and preparing for the ASHP 2024 Pharmacy Futures Meeting in Portland, Oregon! It is such an exhilarating time to be an active ASHP member!
Thank you for your continued dedication to ASHP and the Section. I am amazed at the wonderful things the Board members report about the section advisory meetings and activities. You all are enthusiastic about providing the best care for patients and improving health equity. You are eager to share your professional experiences with others to help them grow professionally. You give your personal time to advance pharmacy practice and improve our section. All these efforts improve care for our patients!
Your hard work is highlighted in the recent upcoming section podcasts and webinars. Please be sure to review them and think about how they may help you in your practice. These include:
- There's Immunosuppression Medications in my Queue, What Do I Do (CE) Podcast
- Midyear 2024 Highlights - Research Best Practices for Student (Podcast)
- Full House: Handling Boarding Patients in the Emergency Department
- 2024 Emergency Medicine Debates
- Mastering Maternity: Clinical Pharmacist Insights into OB Physiology, Emergencies, and Resources for Contemporary Care
Speaking of dedication —Would you like to nominate someone for their dedication to ASHP? The ASHP Distinguished Service Award recognizes a member from each Pharmacy Practice Section, New Practitioners Forum and Pharmacy Technician Forum whose volunteer activities have supported the mission of their Section or Forum and helped advance the profession. Nominate a member here: ASHP Distinguished Service Award. The deadline to submit is April 1!
The ASHP 2024 Pharmacy Futures Meeting is coming up quickly. Be sure to register and book your housing! Not only are there a lot of opportunities to learn and network, the Summit on Artificial Intelligence in Pharmacy takes place at this meeting. The summit aims to advance the expertise of pharmacy practitioners and thought leaders in the evolving landscape of AI adoption in healthcare and empower them to advance pharmacy practice. I look forward to hearing what our section members learn from this summit and how it is implemented to improve patient care. Hopefully the section advisory groups can collaborate to share information from the summit with other members! You can register for this cutting- edge meeting at: https://futures.ashp.org
As part of a national campaign, ASHP is seeking stories via a survey form to promote the impact we have on patient care to the public. It’s easy to contribute! There are four short questions along with some demographic information. The questions we’re asking people to answer in our survey are:
- How do you explain to someone what you do for a living? When did you feel most fulfilled in your career?
- What is the one thing you wish a patient knew about your role in their care?
- How can patients access your care or be in touch with you directly?
If you or a colleague are interested in sharing a story, please submit it via the online survey. This is a quick, easy, and meaningful way that you can contribute to the campaign.
Are you looking to get more involved with the Section? Be sure to submit your interest at: ASHP Forum & Section Advisory Group & Committee Appointment Initial Interest Survey. Survey is open and closes on May 1. Please remember that appointments to the ASHP Advisory Groups and Committees are one-year terms. Do not forget to reapply or apply to a new advisory group or committee! You have so much to give our patients and our profession!
Finally, ASHP, in conjunction with the ASHP Foundation, is seeking case writers for the local (preliminary) and national (semi-final) levels of the ASHP National Clinical Skills Competition (CSC). A total of two cases will be selected: one for the local competitions held each fall on college campuses around the nation, and one for the national competition which takes place at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in December. Case submissions are often based on real patient cases or the cumulative clinical experiences of the case writer and should include: (1) One primary problem to be addressed during the patient encounter by the student competitors (2) Problems to be addressed within one week of the patient encounter by the student competitors. Case topics run the gamut of pharmacotherapy, but the best cases focus on a core topic (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, asthma, anticoagulation) with several ancillary problems exploring the depth of the student’s acumen. Successful case writers will submit a case that involves critical thinking on the part of the students, rather than regurgitation of drugs, doses, and guidelines. In addition to service to the profession and to ASHP, case writers receive a modest honorarium and a complimentary registration to the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting. Submission closes March 30 and notification will take place April 15. You can read more here Call For Case Writers and submit interest here: Submission link for Case Writers
Have a wonderful Springtime! Take care of yourselves and be sure to stop and smell the roses!
Sincerely,
Nancy C. MacDonald, PharmD, BCPS, FASHP
Chair, ASHP Section of Clinical Specialists and Scientists
[email protected]