Several students and faculty from the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences were at ASHP Midyear 2017, in Orlando, Florida, earlier this month. Attended by more than 25,000 people, ASHP's (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition is one of the largest gatherings of pharmacy professionals. The meeting provides valuable opportunities for professional development and networking, "The whole experience was great! Midyear gave me the opportunity to network and talk to all the programs I was interested in," says fourth-year student David Choe. "I was able to ask many questions to residency directors and residents about their programs. Midyear also gave me the platform to present my poster to colleagues," he adds.
"I had a great experience at Midyear! Getting the chance to gather more information from residency programs I was interested in by speaking with current residents and program directors was invaluable. Also, catching up with current residents that recently graduated from CU at our reception was also a great networking opportunity," said fourth year CU Pharmacy student Christian Gabriel.
Congratulations to third-year student Amanda Van Matre! She was awarded the Student Leadership Award and also had an award-winning poster, submitted by Van Matre and members of CU Pharmacy's CSSHP (Colorado Student Societies of Health-System Pharmacy) group. Her poster received an Outstanding Professional Development Project Award. The poster focused on the Pharmacist for a Day Event that's organized by CU Pharmacy, CSSHP, and SNPhA. Pharmacist for a Day is an event where fourth graders from local schools come to our school to learn about medicines, reactions, and compounding, among other things. Poster projects at ASHP Midyear were evaluated on content and information, creativity and resourcefulness, service, outreach and impact, and overall impression.
Thirty CU Pharmacy students presented on a variety of topics at the conference along with presentations from faculty members Christine Aquilante, Laura Borgelt, Ben Chavez, Danielle Fixen, Sunny Linnebur, Gina Moore, Scott Mueller, Joe Saseen and Joel Marrs.
Joel Marrs was also awarded the 2017 ASHP Distinguished Service Award from the Section of Clinical Specialists and Scientists. The award recognizes an outstanding pharmacist whose volunteer activities have helped to advance the profession. Dr. Marrs is an Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at CU Pharmacy and a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in internal medicine with Denver Health. He has also served as a Colorado delegate to the ASHP House of Delegates, is a Past Vice Chair and Chair of the Section of Clinical Specialists and Scientists Educational Steering Committee, and is a faculty member for the ASHP Pharmacotherapy and Ambulatory Care Board Review Courses. He also served on the ASHP Council on Therapeutics and was appointed to the ASHP Ambulatory Care Conference Summit consensus recommendation panel. Congratulations Dr. Marrs!
