As you know, our President-elect position was vacated this summer. Jesse Hogue from Bronson Hospital has graciously accepted to fulfill the remaining time for this position. He will serve as President-elect for 2005, President in 2006 and Past-president in 2007. Jesse has served on WMSHP’s board for a number of years and has participated on MPA committees.

Elections for four board positions, treasurer and President-elect will be conducted in November. Please consider the nominations carefully. We will announce the results at our November meeting.

Again, as a reminder, the MSHP Annual meeting will be held in Lansing on November 4, 2005. Check out MPA’s website for more details.

We are still looking for members who would like to serve on our board. The following positions are up for election this November:

• Board Members (4 positions) - Each board member will organize the CE and meeting place for one general meeting per year. The term for this position is from January 2006 through December 2007.
• President-Elect - This person will serve as President-Elect (Vice-President) in 2006, President in 2007, and Past-President in 2008. The President presides over monthly board meetings and serves as the regional delegate to the MSHP Executive Board (MSHP membership dues will be paid for by WMSHP). The Past-President organizes each year's Annual Spring Seminar.
• Treasurer - This person is in charge of the finances for WMSHP. The term for this position is from January 2006 through December 2007.
• Technician - This person may elect to organize a monthly CE meeting. The technician on our board often helps to arrange the Technician Track for the Annual Spring Seminar.

Please contact any of our current board members if you or someone you know would be interested in running for any of these positions. Please make any nominations by Friday, October 21st.

Another fun filled summer again has passed. I hope all of you had fun this summer enjoying the heat and sun. Welcome back to another term of CE programs that our Board members are currently organizing.

For those of you who have not heard, our current President-Elect, Mitzi McGinnis is now working with University of Illinois in Chicago. I would like wish Mitzi and her husband all the best from WMSHP. In light of Mitzi’s departure, we will be looking for her replacement. This year we will be filling two president-elect positions. One to fulfill the remaining term and to serve as President in Jan 2006 and the other to serve as President-elect next year.

We will again be conducting elections in the fall for the upcoming year. We will be looking for a number of board members. Please consider serving on our board. If you have any questions regarding these positions, please speak of any of our current board members.

Also as a reminder, MSHP will be having their annual meeting on November 4, 2005 in Lansing. I will update you with details.

For our April meeting, we will again be showcasing pharmacy practice residency projects conducted by our area pharmacy residents who have been working hard in preparing their projects to present to our membership. The first presentation is titled "Compliance with Sequential Compression Devices Used for Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis in Surgical Patients" presented by Heather Bockheim, Pharm.D. from Spectrum Health. Our second presentation is titled "Pharmacokinetics of Once Daily Tobramycin for Therapy of Pulmonary Exacerbation of Cystic Fibrosis" presented by Margaret Lincoln, Pharm.D. from Bronson Hospital. I would like to thank these residents for sharing their projects and results with us.

Further update on the increase in membership: The increase to $20 will be in effect as of January 2006. A reminder will be sent to you in the fall.

Again, I wanted to remind all of you of our annual WMSHP Spring Seminar held on May 5, 2005 at the Grand Rapids Hilton. We have a number of great speakers this year. Keep an eye out in your mailbox for our flyer!

Annual dues for WMSHP members were increased from $10 to $20 at the February WMSHP Board meeting. This is the first ever increase in membership dues and will aid WMSHP in continuing to provide you with all the benefits of membership.

Just a reminder, the annual WMSHP Spring Seminar is just around the corner. It will be held on May 5, 2005 at the Grand Rapids Hilton. Peggy DeVoest has been working very hard to organize this seminar for the membership. The goal of this seminar is to provide pharmacy health care professionals with an opportunity to explore state-of-the-art pharmacy practice issues while earning continuing education. We have a roster of great speakers, so mark your calendars!!!!

Hope to see you at the March program in Kalamazoo!

February 18-20 is the Michigan Pharmacist Association 2005 Annual Convention & Exposition (ACE) held at the Dearborn Hyatt Regency. The theme is year is “Building a Brighter Future”. The ACE program welcomes pharmacists, technicians, students and guests. Continuing Education credits are also available.

MPA House of Delegates will be held on Saturday, February 19. Jesse Hogue, Vicki Sternhagen and Mitzi McGinnis will be representing WMSHP. These delegates, along with other delegates from MSHP, will be voting on issues and policies identified by the membership and considered by the Executive Board. Please contact any of these representatives if you have any issues that you would like discussed at their meetings.

Please note that this year at the MPA-ACE meeting, there is an Emergency Preparedness Certificate Program in Pharmacy. Pharmacists have been identified as key players in the event of a new emerging infectious disease outbreak or bioterrorism. This certification consists of seven live programs scheduled throughout the ACE program, providing 10.5 contact hours, as well as home study, independent practical demonstration exercises and post tests. To receive additional information you may contact Mary Farrington at MPA 517-377-0234 or mary@michiganpharmacists.org

Hope to see you in Grand Rapids for the February CE program!

I hope everyone enjoyed the Holiday season with lots of good friends and warm cheer!

A warm ‘welcome back’ to Jeff VanHouten, Jesse Hogue, and Ryan Bickel, who will be serving for an additional two years as board members. I would also like to take this time to introduce two new board members:

Dana Staat is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Ferris State University. Originating from Port Hope, she traveled to West Michigan to obtain her Pharm D from Ferris State University and then completed her pharmacy practice residency program at Spectrum Health. She oversees the internal medicine rotation at Saint Mary’s Health Care and her interests include pharmacokinetics and infectious disease.

Natalie Vazzana is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Ferris State University. Hailing from Homer Glen (suburb of Chicago), IL, she obtained her Pharm D degree at Purdue University and completed a pharmacy practice residency from McKesson Medication Management at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. Her clinical site is Spectrum Health – Butterworth’s internal medicine program. Natalie will be serving for one year, as a replacement for Mitzi McGinnis who will be your new President-Elect.

On behalf of the WMSHP board, I would like to thank Peggy DeVoest, who has done a tremendous job as President in 2004. Also, thanks to Mike Jonkman for his two-year service as Board Member and Jaci DeYoung for her service during her Past-President year. Thank you so much for all your hard work!

I hope to see all of you in the months ahead for the great educational programs we have planned. Please feel free to contact any member of the board or myself with ideas you may have for educational programs, topics you would like to have addressed, or ideas for our website. Please check out our website at www.wmshp.net.

On October 18th, WMSHP co-sponsored a residency showcase with Ferris State University in Grand Rapids at MERC. There were about forty people in attendance, which included program directors, residents and P2-P4 pharmacy students. The program was set up so that the each of the eleven programs from around the state could provide a brief overview of their pharmacy practice residencies and specialty residencies. Following the presentations, each of the programs’ representatives was available so the students could ask additional questions. Overall, the program was very valuable for both students and residency directors.

An upcoming event to consider is the MSHP annual meeting on November 12 at the Lansing Center in downtown Lansing. The program agenda and registration can be obtained at www.michiganpharmacists.org.

It is well-known that all licensed pharmacists must complete thirty hours of continuing education every two years for renewal. These hours can consist of any of the following forms of education: on-line, journals or live programming. Currently, pharmacists can elect to earn all their credits in one venue and may never attend a single program; but, this may all change in the future. The Board of Pharmacy has proposed that at least ten of the thirty hours be obtained from live programs. This proposal is being considered, and if passed, may go into effect starting next year. The WMSHP Board is considering this proposal very carefully and working hard to ensure that most if not all of our programs will offer continuing education for all of its members. We want to offer programs that are informative and useful for daily practice. Please let me know what you would like to see in the programming.

Another opportunity to obtain live continuing education is the Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists annual meeting. This year, the conference will take place on November 12th at the Lansing Center from 9:00-4:30. The program includes a wide variety of topics for pharmacists, technicians and students. The opening session includes two presentations: one on Bioethics, followed by a discussion on Emergency Preparedness. The afternoon offers three concurrent sessions focusing on leadership, pharmacy technicians and a clinical session. Some topics of note include pharmacogenomics, pharmacoeconomics, pharmacy informatics and technology. For more information log on to the MPA website at www.michiganpharmacists.org.

We are now accepting nominations for the following positions:

• Board Members – 2005 through 2006
   
• President-Elect – 2005

Please email the names of potential candidates to us at nominations@wmshp.net. Our membership will have the opportunity to vote on candidates when the October newsletter is distributed.