Volume 4 Issue 1 January – February 2015
The Monthly Prescription Pursuing Excellence in Pharmacy as Student Pharmacists
American Pharmacy Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists
University of Florida College of Pharmacy Chapter Newsletter
Discover how student pharmacists take knowledge from the classroom and share it in their communities!
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In this Issue…
1, 4 Global Gala: What a
Wonderful World!
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Great(er) Gator Health Fests
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UF APhA-ASP welcomes Michael Jackson
6 Stress Free Pharmacy
8 A Letter from the Editor
Got anxiety on the brain? Learn tips on how to manage pharmacy school stress free!
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Global Gala: What a Wonderful World!
Global Gala 2015 - What A Wonderful World was a night of cultural celebration that took place on Friday, February 6th, at Gator Wesley Foundation. Though the Gator Wesley Foundation was a different, smaller venue for Global Gala than the traditions of previous years (Gainesville Indian Cultural Center), it allowed for a more intimate environment to enjoy the consistently spectacular evening. Over 150 students and faculty were in attendance from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy Gainesville campus and the distance campuses, making Global Gala truly a college-wide affair. The night’s program included cultural talent performances by both
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Operation Diabetes doing big things!
Pens & Pumps & Class
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Ada Jutba, Carla Figura and Clara-Jessica Rances (1PD)
9 Upcoming Dates/Events
Mr. COP Pageant 2015 7
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Operation Diabetes: Pens & Pumps & so much more!
Diabetes demonstration supplies for Pen & Pump attendees to practice their skills
Stay tuned for next year’s class. We are hoping to add a new topic: the latest developments in type 1
diabetes research!
Diabetes Counseling Class In late January, Operation Diabetes and SNPhA Diabetes Initiative teamed up to host its first ever Diabetes Patient Counseling Class. Operation Diabetes typically holds a training session every semester to teach students how to test a patient's blood glucose but this semester, we decided to focus less on the mechanics and more on the patient interaction. The class was targeted towards 1PDs to give them a head start for patient counseling in Pharmacotherapy 1! The class was led by Dr. Laura Smoot, PharmD, BCPS, the Pharmacy Education Coordinator at the NF/SG Veterans Health System. Dr. Smoot was a very engaging speaker, drawing on her years of experience as a pharmacist in the ambulatory care setting. She gave an overview of diabetes management, with an emphasis on target blood glucose ranges for patients with/without diabetes, per the American Diabetes Association guidelines. She also gave some very practical tips for counseling patients, such as the importance of staying calm when counseling a patient that is dramatically hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic. It's important to get the patient's whole story to find out what's normal for them, and what's not. Dr. Smoot's last bit of advice was to be empathetic and patient, and to maximize any opportunity to educate your patients! You might find yourself working to convince a patient that sweet tea does not lower their sugar, as Dr. Smoot did in her clinic!
Students look on as Dr. Laura Smoot discusses an example patient case
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Gainesville Campus’ Operation Diabetes had the pleasure of hosting its 6th Annual Pens & Pumps Learning Class this year on January 30th, 2015. Each year, this evening class is devoted and designed to teach students, including pharmacy and other health disciplines, about the ins-and-outs of diabetes: its management, with a special focus and details on topics that often get glossed over in the curriculum, such as carbohydrate counting. Operation Diabetes would like to express utmost appreciation for our three fantastic speakers of Pens & Pumps: Ms. Kathryn Parker, Ms. Diane Thompson, and Dr. Karen Sando. All of our speakers were certified diabetes educators, but each one represented a different health-related background- dietetics, nursing, and pharmacy, respectively. They presented on topics ranging from carbohydrate counting to the evolution of the insulin pump. In addition, Dr. Sando also taught the students how to inject an insulin pen, using various demo supplies, to imitate an actual injection into a patient. We would also like to thank the UF Students with Diabetes chapter for their support of Pens & Pumps, and overall diabetes education. Because of their collaboration with Operation Diabetes, several students with Type 1 diabetes were available to offer their personal perspectives and stories about how they are living with diabetes.
This year, we were thrilled to have more than 80 students in attendance, with strong interdisciplinary support from nursing, dentistry, and medicine students. Thanks again to everyone who attended Pens & Pumps!
Stephanie Shore Operation Diabetes
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Great(er) Gator Health Fest Farris Hasan VP of National Patient Care Projects
What do you get when you cross a Gator student
pharmacist with a community in need?
Someone willing to fill the gap and go to patients beyond the classroom!
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While it is a tradition for our chapter to host the annual Great Gator Health Fest (GGHF) during a Fall UF Gator football home game, 2015 marks the beginning to a year hallmarked by new traditions! In addition to the usual Fall GGHF, Gainesville’s ASP chapter decided to create more opportunities for the local community to have access to student pharmacists and all the resources we have to offer! We, as student pharmacists, play an integral role to our community by taking the knowledge we learn from the classroom, and bringing it out to those who live outside of those walls. We must strive to provide better and greater Gator health and pharmacy care! What are student pharmacists doing to make a difference?
Patient care projects, both local and national (comprised of 1st and 2nd year pharmacy students), participated in the inaugural Great Gator Health Fest of the 2015 Spring semester. The Patient Care projects who participated include: Pediatric Awareness, Poison Prevention, Geriatric Awareness, Operation Self Care, Operation Heart, and Generation Rx. Tablings and blood pressure screenings were held during the February 20th home baseball matchup between the Florida Gators and the Miami Hurricanes (Go Gators! We won with a score of 4 to Miami’s 3). Student pharmacists were able to counsel attending Gator fans and patrons on many topics, including proper use of common over-the-counter medications, potentially toxic, around-the-house products to be cautious with, and increasing awareness about patients’ health so they play an active role in their therapy and care.
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What are ASP’s future plans for this semester?
Look out for more future Great Gator Health Fests at upcoming UF sporting events: March 17 @ UF Baseball vs. Florida State and April 3 @ UF Softball vs. South Carolina!
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Student pharmacists perform blood glucose screenings and
share information with attendees
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students from all of the campuses of the College of Pharmacy and the University of Florida at large, as well as a successful silent auction made possible by the generosity of local Gainesville businesses. In addition, it was a relaxing evening for students to step away from schoolwork, dress up, and enjoy a catered dinner while playing audience to a variety of performances by their peers. Thanks to the support of the College and generous grants from companies like Publix, Global Gala 2015 raised nearly $7000 in proceeds to go towards medications and supplies for the Global Health Outreach Trips. Everyone played a huge part in making Global Gala successful.
Global Gala Coordinators: (from left to right) Clara-Jessica Rances, Carla Figura, Rubaiyat
Zinat-Haider, Tiffany Harris, Ada Jutba
The Global Gala coordinators would like to thank the College of Pharmacy for supporting this event year after year and the many sponsors who made charitable contributions. Last but not least, the coordinators would like to express their gratitude to the students and faculty. Without their attendance and participation, this event would not have been possible. Global Gala was a memorable night that emphasized that we really do live in ‘a wonderful world!’
(all photo credit: Bao Lam (Orlando Campus)
January Member of the Month:
Tina Nguyen
My name is Tina Nguyen, and I am a 1PD at UF College of Pharmacy.
I grew up in Palm Bay, Florida, and I received my B.S. in Nutritional Sciences at the University of
Florida.
I currently serve two positions within APhA-‐ASP: Operation Heart chair and Fundraising chair, both of which I enjoy very much.
In terms of career goals, I am
interested in pursuing a career in hospital pharmacy.
However, I am also keeping an open mind to explore different
areas in pharmacy.
In my spare time, I love playing my ukulele and swing dancing.
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Michael Jackson, Executive Vice President and CEO of FPA On February 16, 2015 Gainesville’s chapter of APhA-ASP had the pleasure to welcome a superstar of the pharmacy world: Mr. Michael Jackson! While he shares the same namesake as the beloved king of pop, our guest speaker Michael Jackson is also a well-admired man in his own right. Mr. Jackson, Executive Vice President and CEO of Florida Pharmacy Association (abbreviated as ‘FPA’), plays an important role as an integral part of the FPA Management Team, coordinating FPA efforts to lobby for laws and regulations in favor of protecting rights and advancing the practice of pharmacists, pharmacy interns and staff. With Legislative Days 2015 just around the corner, this meeting was a very informative session that gave Gainesville students to understand the importance of advocating now for our future as pharmacists. At the state capitol (Tallahassee), pharmacy students throughout the whole state come together to be a real-life, ‘in-the-flesh’ example to Capitol Hill employees, councilmen, and other important Florida Legislature officials about the truth of what pharmacy is all about by providing various health screenings and information.
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Jackson shared detailed step-by-step instructions of what it takes to get a bill introduced and passed throughout the Legislative Branch (House of Representatives and Senate) and Executive Branch (Governor Rick Scott) and FPA’s role in the lawmaking process. He also spoke on the importance for students to take the initiative with their future by reaching out to and supporting the local government officials to have fair representation on pharmacy-related issues. While certain issues (e.g. recognition of pharmacists as ‘healthcare providers’ and immunization status for pharmacists and pharmacy interns) are hot issues currently in discussion, there is a reality that we need to stand up and fight for pharmacists’ rights and place in society now or else our futures will be the ones in jeopardy upon graduation in a few years.
For more information about how you, as a student pharmacist, can become more involved with advocating for our future profession or how to become a member of FPA, visit the FPA site at: http://www.pharmview.com Student membership consists of a single-time $20 fee, and covers a 4 year-membership (4 years of pharmacy school).
Much appreciation towards Mr. Michael Jackson for coming to visit the Gator Nation at Gainesville Campus and for everything you do for FPA! We can’t wait to see you at Legislative Days 2015!
FPA’s Man in the Mirror: UF COP Gainesville Campus welcomes
Michael Jackson!
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Volume 4 Issue 1 January-February 2015
‘Stress free’ Pharmacy: Learning How to Deal with Stress Pharmacy school can be a very stressful time in students’ lives, with students having to balance a combination of a rigorous coursework, extracurricular activities, and other responsibilities that makes life altogether so interesting. Sometimes stress can help students to be proactive and productive, but what happens when it becomes too burdensome or too much to handle? How are we to cope with this stress in good, helpful ways? During our first GBM of the semester, we were blessed with the opportunity to have guest speaker and UF Doctoral candidate in Counseling Psychology Shraddha Sundaram M.A speak with student pharmacists on the topic of ‘Reducing Stress and Beating Test Anxiety’. Sundaram used her wit and down-to-earth personality to connect with students and help them open up about issues of graduate school-related anxiety, demonstrated how to properly engage deep breathing techniques, and provided many resources from the UF Counseling & Wellness Center to help with meditation and therapy. Some of the memorable tips she provided include:
2015-2016 Gainesville Campus APhA-ASP Executive Board
(from left to right): Aaron Overton, Farris Hasan, Tavish Tiet, Oliver Ruiz, Samantha Roughton, Jade Haney, Zainab Khatoon, Urvi Patel, Jennifer Binder
President: Samantha Roughton
President-Elect: Oliver Ruiz VP of National Patient Care Projects: Urvi Patel VP of Local Patient Care Projects: Farris Hasan
VP of Legislative and External Affairs: Aaron Overton VP of Membership and Internal Affairs: Jade Haney
VP of International Affairs: Zainab Khatoon VP of Finance: Jennifer Binder
VP of Communications: Tavish Tiet
(not pictured) Chapter Advisors: Professor Thomas Munyer, Dr. Karen Whalen, Dr. Sven Normann
To get more involved with APhA-ASP, feel free to get to know and talk to your officers here in Gainesville!
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• Try to get into meditation or deep breathing to physically help yourself de-stress, even if it’s only 5 minutes’ worth of time
• Peeling an orange- the aroma of citrus can help you de-stress • Walking in areas of nature (e.g. areas with green plants, trees, etc.) help you to realize you’re a small part of
something bigger in life • Talk with someone at the UF Counseling & Wellness Center, or with a friend or roommate about your worries-
talking and voicing your thoughts can help you realize you’re not alone and provide a support system
For additional ideas and resources, visit the UF Counseling & Wellness Center at: http://www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc/
APhA-ASP Gainesville presents Mr. College of Pharmacy Pageant 2015
Tina Nguyen Fundraising Chair
APhA-ASP Gainesville held their 7th Annual Mr. College of Pharmacy Pageant (commonly known as the Mr. COP Pageant) on Saturday, January 31st at the HPNP Auditorium. In this year’s pageant, six outstanding male contestants from our College of Pharmacy competed for the Mr. COP crown. This year’s contestants included: third-year Ryan Bootle, second-years’ Rich Royster and Joshua Levine, and first-years’ Oliver Ruiz, Jared Roth, and Brent Lovato. Throughout the night, two lively emcees, Amit Patel and Jessica Pu, hosted the show and entertained the audience. The contestants showcased their personality and creativity onstage during multiple events. Each contestant impersonated a professor, performed a talent, and responded to questions. During the professor impersonations, the audience erupted with laughter as Jared took on the role of Dr. Frazier and lectured about dinosaurs. Brent kept the audience constantly laughing with his impersonation of Dr. Palmieri in a biochem lecture. During the talent portion, Rich shocked the audience by counting pills while doing a handstand. Oliver also added to the shock factor by using his martial arts skills to break wooden boards. In addition, Jared showed off his “jerk” dance moves and Josh drew works of art on his iPad. Closing the talent portion, Brent played multiple songs on his guitar that everyone could not resist singing along to!
In the meantime, all of the contestants’ performances were judged by panel of professors from the College. This year’s judges included: Dr. Joanna Peris, Dr. Katherine Vogel Anderson, Dr. Karen Sando, and Dr. Karen Whalen. During the time the judges spent making their final decision, last year’s Mr. COP, Justin Desiongco, serenaded the audience with a cover of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’.
When the judges were ready to present the winner, the audience’s anticipation built up. Drum-rolling ensued, and the emcees announced the name of Mr. COP 2015 – Mr. Brent Lovato! Brent’s hilariously accurate impersonation of Dr. Palmieri, his talented guitar-playing and singing, and his clever responses during the Q&A won him the crown for Mr. College of Pharmacy 2015. The funds raised from Mr. COP went towards the APhA-PAC (Political Action Committee), which supports the candidates for federal office who support pharmacy issues. The PAC plays an important role in helping to expand our pharmacy profession. Thank you to everyone who came to support this event, because we raised over $300 towards ‘Back the PAC’! We (Fundraising Chairs Tina Nguyen and Melanie Rolfe) thoroughly enjoyed organizing Mr. COP this year, and we are grateful for this opportunity to fundraise for APhA-ASP!
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Pictured left: Brent Lovato (1PD) Winner of Mr. COP Pageant 2015 Pictured right: (from left to right) emcees Jessica Pu and Amit Patel, contestants Rich Royster,
Oliver Ruiz, Jared Roth, Ryan Bootle, Joshua Levine, and Brent Lovato
A Letter from the Editor
Hello my fellow Gator student pharmacists! It is my pleasure to be your editor this year for The Monthly Prescription, the official newsletter for the University of Florida College of Pharmacy’s chapter of APhA’s Academy of Student Pharmacists. This issue of The Monthly Prescription includes a collection of various events and meetings that took place throughout January and February, but I hope they reflect more than just two months’ time. A common tradition that occurs at the start of each new year is the declaration of new resolutions or changes to start making in one’s lives. Our chapter of APhA-‐ASP is no exception. While we may not have an official list of the changes we want to be realized throughout this year, I have full confidence that we are in a time of change, and the change is good. There is a common theme that I’ve noticed about ASP 2015 thus far: we are advancing to become better student pharmacists by focusing on the most important aspects of pharmacy-‐ our patients. Some new changes we’ve made to our usual ASP activities include our first Diabetes Counseling Class and the addition of more Great Gator Health Fests. The Diabetes Counseling Class provides student pharmacists with tools and knowledge that goes beyond a simple blood glucose reading. This allows us to interpret and translate the ‘science’ of the numbers into common conversational nuggets of information for patients to be able to make lifestyle changes and participate in taking control over their health. This year, we are also adding more Great Gator Health Fests (GGHF), by moving past a single, annual Fall semester event into multiple health screenings and fairs that span over both Fall and Spring semesters. The purpose of including more GGHFs is to be able to make larger ripples of impact within our local community. A problem that is all too common with poor healthcare is the lack of patient access to the care they need. While we recognize that the patients we see are struggling with making necessary lifestyle changes, being adherent with their medications, or even showing up to appointments, we can take the initiative to come to them. With GGHFs expanding to include screenings and tablings at select sporting events and other large gatherings, student pharmacists are able to bring healthcare to where the patients are and reach a larger patient population. I look forward to the day we can look back and see the progress we make with these new changes! I encourage student pharmacists to further your knowledge about counseling and going out to be active in engaging with our patients. Consider this an investment into everyone’s future! Finally, a word about APhA 2015: Advancing As One-‐ this year’s APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition, taking place March 27-‐ 30, 2015 at the beautiful San Diego, California. The theme for this year, advancing as one, focuses on the different areas of pharmacy continuing forward united to propel the profession of pharmacy as healthcare providers. Though APhA annual is taking place on the West coast this year (last year’s conference took place in Orlando, FL), I would encourage students to consider attending this amazing conference to be inspired by other student pharmacists throughout the nation and realize that we’re all a part of something bigger than ourselves. It is past the original sign up date (February 4th), but you can still sign up and take advantage of all the benefits you’re entitled to as a member of APhA-‐ASP! Keep an eye out for what our Gator student pharmacists have to share about APhA 2015 in a later issue of The Monthly Prescription. Go Gators!
Here’s to a semester of new changes for the better,
When she’s not busy studying for pharmacotherapy or writing for The Monthly Prescription, Jessica enjoys blogging, baking, playing guitar and doing yoga!
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Upcoming Events on the ASP Horizon
• February 28 -‐ March 8 UF Spring Break and Global Health Outreach Trips (GHOT) • March 9-‐10 Legislative Days 2015 at Florida state capitol (Tallahassee, FL) • March 16 March General Body Meeting • March 17 GGHF @ Baseball: UF vs Florida State • March 27-‐30 APhA 2015: Advancing As One Annual Meeting & Exposition (San Diego, CA) • April 3 GGHF @ Softball: UF vs South Carolina
Look out for these events and more to be covered in next month’s issue of The Monthly Prescription!
Editorial Staff of The Monthly Prescription
Jessica Yung Editor
Tavish Tiet Editor-in-Chief
A big thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue of The Monthly Prescription, especially our APhA-ASP Historian, Khanh Nguyen!
If you’d like to see your event covered in next month’s issue, email either Jessica or Tavish
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