Again we had great attendance at our meeting in February. Heather Draper presented current topics in toxicology including treatment options for overdoses and new and upcoming drugs of abuse. It was informative and thought provoking. Thank you to Heather for a great presentation.

In March, Tracey Mersfelder, PharmD, BCPS, professor at Ferris State University will be presenting "Health on the Homestead" a look at natural products and their place in medicine.

Congratulations to residents Kayla Uganski of Mercy Health Saint Mary's and Emily Chan of Mercy Health Muskegon for being selected to present their residency projects at April's meeting.

Thank you to all our WMSHP members for their attendance and helping to make these programs successful. Hope to see you all at the March meeting.

We had a great January meeting.  Thank you to everyone for braving the weather and attending to hear Mike Schrimer speak on Pulmonary Hypertension.  In case you missed it, Mike's slides are on our website.

Heather Draper, PharmD, is a pharmacist practicing in emergency medicine at Mercy Health Saint Mary's.  She will be presenting a topic in February on toxicology.

Just a friendly reminder that if you RSVP for a meeting and cannot attend, please contact the board member that is organizing the event, even if it is the day of the event.  Many times we have a waiting list or know of someone who would like to attend and could allow for them to come to the meeting if we are aware of a cancellation.  We would appreciate your help with this. 

Hope to see you at February's meeting.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season and have been able to spend time with family and friends. We have had great attendance during our fall meetings and have great topics planned for the winter and spring.

In October, Peggy de Voest, PharmD and Mike Schirmer, PharmD presented patient cases to help the audience learn heart failure guidelines. It was a great mix of inpatient and outpatient concepts and it was a fun way to learn.

Mike Shirmer, PharmD returns in January to present “Pulmonary Hypertension Updates.” I can’t wait to see what Mike has in store for us.

We also welcome 3 new board members and 1 returning member in January. New members include Katie Wenzel, Ryan Bickel, and Tara Holt. Kasey Bucher returns for a second term as a board member and Kari Vavra transitions to President-elect. Thank you to Abby Sturm and Kristina Rak as they completed their board member term in December.

Again, Happy Holidays and hope to see you at the January meeting.

Ballots for the 2014 WMSHP Board Elections are in the mail to all of our current members.  Please complete your ballot and follow the enclosed directions to ensure that your vote is counted.  Below are short bios for each of this year's nominees.

Charles Berklich was born and raised in a suburb of Flint where he kept to his humble beginnings on the east side of the state and attended the University of Michigan. He studied neuroscience for three years before being accepted to the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. Throughout his 7 years of school he was employed as a certified student hardware technician for UM. He also had the opportunity to complete a PharmD project that had implications for compliance with meaningful use criteria. He has a unique background focused on technology and he hopes to leverage his background to apply it to the practice of pharmacy. Specifically, he is interested in working with drug knowledge vendors for technology optimization. He currently works as a pharmacist at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. He also lives in Grand Rapids.  In his free time, he plays rugby. He played every year of college and was voted the captain of the UM team two years in a row. He currently plays for the Grand Rapids Gazelles. He is also an avid fisherman, enjoys hitting the firearm range occasionally, and is currently in talks with a Michigan brewery website to work as an intern. He is also active with ASHP, having attended last year's midyear and presented a poster.

Ryan J. Bickel, Pharm.D., BCPS, is the pharmacy manager at Borgess Pipp Hospital in Plainwell, MI.  Ryan earned is pharmacy degree from Ferris State University and completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at Spectrum Health.  He is a graduate of ASHP’s Pharmacy Leadership Academy and is currently pursuing a MHA degree from Simmons College.  He is a Fellow of the Michigan Pharmacists Association and has been actively involved in ASHP, MSHP, and WMSHP.  His professional areas of interest include infectious diseases, pain management, medication safety, and quality improvement.

Kasey Bucher (Incumbent Board Member) graduated from the Ferris State University College of Pharmacy in 2008 and then went on to complete a PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency and a PGY-2 Specialty Residency in Critical Care. Kasey currently works on the clinical pharmacy team at Mercy Health St. Mary's Health Care in Grand Rapids, Michigan as an Emergency Medicine Clinical Specialist.

Adam Drzewicki graduated with his Pharm.D. from the University of Michigan in 2000.  After graduation, he completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  He then accepted a clinical pharmacist position in cardiology at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo.

Tara Holt graduated with her Pharm.D. from Purdue University in 2010. Upon graduation she went on to complete a PGY1 and PGY2 critical care residency at Grady Health System in Atlanta, GA. She currently works as a clinical pharmacist in the neuro and medical intensive care units at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, MI. She is also an adjunct faculty with Ferris State University working with pharmacy students and residents at BMH. Professional involvement includes membership with WMSHP and she is an active member of the Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology section of SCCM.

Julie Pardy graduated with her Pharm.D. from Ferris State University in 2011. She then completed a PGY1 residency at Spectrum Health. Julie now works at Spectrum Health United Memorial. She has been a member of WMSHP since 2011 and she would love the opportunity to become more involved as a board member.

Katie Wenzel received her Pharm.D. degree from Ferris State University in 2011.  She then completed a PGY-1 residency at Bronson Methodist Hospital.  Katie is currently practicing as one of the Adult Medical Unit and Extended Medical Care Unit pharmacists at Bronson.  She is also Assistant Residency Director and helps to coordinate the orientation experiences for new residents, as well as the clinical pharmacy rotation at the end of the residency year.

The first two months of WMSHP continuing education programs have gone very well. We have had exceptional attendance at each meeting, both in Grand Rapids and in Kalamazoo. To meet the needs of our membership, we have tried to expand the meeting limit to the highest number possible, while still meeting our monthly budget. We often have a meeting waiting list. If you do sign up for a meeting and are later unable to attend, please contact the meeting organizer as soon as possible (listed on the website). We can then open up the meeting to members on the waiting list.

Peggy de Voest, PharmD and Mike Schirmer, PharmD will both be speaking at our November meeting. The will be discussing “Pharmacy and the Failing Heart”. The talk will be interactive and informative, so please try to attend.

Keep an eye out for our yearly ballot and remember to vote!

Now that fall is in full force, I hope you have a chance to attend one of our fall continuing education programs. As in years past, we will continue to alternate program sites between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.

Our October meeting features a practitioner who is new to our area, Lisa Dumkow PharmD, the clinical pharmacist in antimicrobial stewardship at the St. Mary's Campus of Mercy Health. Lisa will discuss pharmacists at the transitions of care and opportunities for antimicrobial stewardship.

October is a busy month for WMSHP with our monthly meeting and our residency showcase. The WMSHP residency showcase will occur in Grand Rapids at the Ferris State University College of Pharmacy classrooms. We usually have a great turnout of interested students and residency programs.

Our November meeting is back in Grand Rapids and will feature Peggy de Voest and Mike Schirmer who will be talking about heart failure. Please try to attend!

Welcome back to the fall continuing education session of WMSHP. I hope you all had a great summer and are ready to participate in some great education topics. I would also like to welcome our newest members. Our first ever happy hour/membership drive was quite a success. We had a full house with over 50 attendees, 19 of whom were potential new members.

Our September meeting features one of our board members, Kasey Bucher PharmD, BCPS who will be speaking on blood products and pharmaceutical emergencies.

October is shaping up to be a busy month for WMSHP. Besides our general October meeting, we are busy planning our annual residency showcase. The residency showcase is a great way for potential residents to meet with various residency programs across the state. The general October meeting will be in Kalamazoo on October 10, with the residency showcase in Grand Rapids on October 17.

We are also happy to report that WMSHP will be supporting the Michigan Pharmacists Association Young Practitioner Leadership Academy. We are sponsoring a board member, Kasey Bucher, who will attend the academy this year. We are excited to see what ideas Kasey will be able to share with the WMSHP board and the general membership after attending the academy.

It's that time once again….time for spring? I guess we have to say, not quite. It is time for our yearly opportunity to showcase how much great work is being done by local pharmacy residents. Once again, congratulations to Jessica Rademacher from Spectrum Health and Corie Kellogg from Mercy Health Partners.  Dr. Rademacher and Dr. Kellogg were selected by the WMSHP board to present their residency projects at our meeting this month.

May brings another exciting time for WMSHP, our 44^th annual Spring Seminar. We will be returning to the Prince Conference Center at Calvin College in Grand Rapids on May 7^th. Look for the brochure soon. This year’s programming includes 5 hours of live continuing education with topics ranging from compounding pharmacy to incorporating students and resident’s into practice to pain management. We hope to see you all there!

I wish I could say that I can see the signs of spring approaching, but unfortunately winter seems to be sticking around in West Michigan.

Don’t let the weather stop you from attending our next meeting in Kalamazoo. Laura Ritter MS, CDE, RD will be discussing insulin pumps in the hospital. Make sure you take a look at the dinner choices and indicate your selection ahead of time.

Congratulations to Jessica Rademacher from Spectrum Health and Corie Kellogg from Mercy Health Partners. Dr. Rademacher and Dr. Kellogg were selected by the WMSHP board to present their residency projects at our April meeting. Mark your calendars for April 11. We are changing the venue this year based on feedback we received regarding the meeting we had at the Griffins game last year. Check back as more details will be added to the website.

I hope you all enjoy the end of winter! Stay safe!

After staying away until the end of January, West Michigan has seen the snow return in force! Thankfully, all we had to deal with was rain for our January meeting in Kalamazoo. We had a great turn-out to hear Don Scott, PharmD from Spectrum Health, speak on antibiotic dosing in obese patients.

To avoid Valentine's Day, our February meeting will be held a week later than normal on February 21, 2013. Dr. Yvan Tran, an Epileptologist at Saint Mary's Health Care, will speak on seizures and epilepsy. The meeting will be held in the Saint Mary's Lacks Cancer Center. Please plan on attending.

Attention Pharmacy Residents! Don't forget to submit your Great Lakes Project abstract to WMSHP if you would like the opportunity to present your project to our members at our April meeting. Two residents will be selected to present their projects on Thursday, April 11 in Grand Rapids. This is a great opportunity to practice your presentation before attending the Great Lakes Conference.