Spring has sprung! The return of Spring reminds me of our upcoming WMSHP Spring Seminar, which is scheduled for May 22, 2008 at the 28th Street Hilton in Grand Rapids. Make sure you put it on your calendar.

Another Spring event is the selection of a recipient for the annual WMSHP scholarship. One scholarship in the amount of $1000.00 is awarded to a 3rd year pharmacy student from Ferris State University, the University of Michigan, or Wayne State University. The pharmacy student must be a native or current resident of the Western Michigan area, demonstrate involvement and/or leadership within professional organizations, and express an interest in health-system pharmacy upon graduation. The applicant must fill out an application form before the deadline of March 31. The scholarship recipient will be selected by the WMSHP board and the scholarship will be presented at the Spring Seminar.

Hopefully many of you were able to make it to the MPA ACE meeting. A highlight for WMSHP was the recognition given to our current Past-President, Ryan Bickel. Ryan received the MPA Distinguished New Pharmacist Practitioner award. This is the 3rd year in a row that a member of WMSHP has won this award. Previous winners were Jodie Backus and Jesse Hogue. Congratulations, Ryan!

Our next meeting will be held April 10, 2008 at Sam's Joint in Plainwell. Two area pharmacy residents will be presenting their Great Lakes Pharmacy Residency Project. Bailee Wienke is a pharmacy practice resident at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. Her project is entitled "Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia in the Critically Ill: Value of the 4T Score and Compliance with Evidence-based Guidelines". Betsy Hoida is a pharmacy practice resident at Mercy General Health Partners in Muskegon. The title of Betsy's project is "A Pharmacist-Managed Medication Reconciliation Process".