Below are the nominees for our 2017 WMSHP Board Elections.  Votes will be due before the start of our November General Meeting on November 3rd.

President-Elect 2016:

Katie Adrian 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 Methodist Hospital. She is also the Assistant Residency Director and helps to coordinate the orientation experience, along with the staffing rotation and the clinical pharmacy rotation at the end of the residency year. She has enjoyed being on the board and would love to continue her involvement.

Secretary 2017-18:

Brad Miller (incumbent) is an Informatics Pharmacist at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids.  He graduated from Ferris State University and completed a PGY-1 residency at Spectrum Health.  He has previously worked as Pharmacy Director at Pennock Hospital in Hastings, and as an Emegency Department Clinical Pharmacist at Spectrum Health.  He has served as WMSHP's secretary and webmaster since 2004.

Board Members 2017-18:

Stacy Brousseau (incumbent) graduated from Ferris State University's College of Pharmacy in 2013.  Following pharmacy school, Stacy completed a PGY-1 pharmacy practice residency at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo and was subsequently hired on at Bronson as a clinical pharmacist in the Emergency Department. She is also adjunct faculty with Ferris State University's College of Pharmacy, facilitating an Emergency Medicine rotation for fourth year pharmacy students.  Stacy is currently the chairperson of the MSHP Educational Affairs Committee, a board member for WMSHP, and is actively involved in the MPA Education Task Force.  She has enjoyed serving as a WMSHP board member for the past two years and would love the opportunity to continue working to provide interesting and informative continuing education programs for WMSHP's members..

Christin Campbell (incumbent) is a 2014 graduate of the Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy and completed a PGY-1 residency at Borgess Medical Center. She is now a clinical pharmacy specialist at Borgess on the general medical/oncology unit. Christin has enjoyed serving as a WMSHP board member this year and is seeking re-election so that she can continue to actively contribute to the organization. She has been a member of WMSHP since 2014.

Carrie Morrison (incumbent) is an ambulatory care pharmacist at Mercy Health in Muskegon and serves as the Clinical Pharmacy Coordinator for Affinia Health, Mercy's clinically integrated physician network in Muskegon and Grand Rapids.  She has been on the WMSHP board for 2 terms and is seeking election for a 3rd .  She received her bachelor degree in pharmacy from Ferris State University and completed her PharmD with Creighton University in Nebraska..

Jordan Posey: After going to school at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, I managed to convince Spectrum to take me on as a resident. Since then, I have been taking care of adult and pediatric patients in the ED and ICU. I am (in)famous with students and residents for my 8 hour trauma topic discussions. I am running for a board position because I want to contribute to the great work that WMSHP does to support pharmacist education and camaraderie!

A big thank you to Stacy Brousseau, Pharm.D., BCPS, for her excellent presentation on “STDs: The Aftermath of Netflix and Chill” and for all the members who joined us in Kalamazoo. We will be back in Grand Rapids at 6:30pm on Thursday, November 3rd for Shalyn C. Quigley, Pharm.D.’s presentation on Adult Immunization Updates.

It’s time to finalize our ballot and begin the election process for our 2017-2018 Board. The positions for elections this year are President-Elect, Secretary, and 4 two-year Board Member terms.  If you are interested in running for a board position, email your bio to our secretary, Brad Miller, at webmaster@wmshp.net. Bios should be brief (a few sentences) and typically contain alma mater, additional training (if applicable), current practice and a brief description of your interest in being a board member, and are due by Friday, October 21st. Finalized ballots will be emailed to WMSHP members the week of October 24th, and the polls will close immediately prior to our general meeting on November 3rd.

Thank you to all of the members who joined us in Grand Rapids for our first meeting of the 2016-2017 WMSHP year, and to Derek Vander Horst, Pharm.D., for an excellent review of “HIV Pharmacotherapy: Back to the Basics.”  

We look forward to a busy October, starting with our annual Residency Showcase, held in conjunction with Ferris State University, on October 6th in Grand Rapids. Our next monthly meeting will be held on October 13th at Borgess Medical Center’s Lawrence Education Center in Kalamazoo, where Stacy Brousseau, Pharm.D., BCPS, will give an engaging presentation on “STDs: The Aftermath of Netflix and Chill.”

Board elections are just around the corner, so if you are interested in taking the next step in organizational involvement and running for a board position, please contact me or another board member for more information. Last month, we welcomed Derek Wilson to the Board, filling the vacant technician position. We thank everyone for being part of such an engaged organization!

The dog days of summer are over, and it’s time to start another year of great programming for WMSHP. Starting with our September meeting, WMSHP will now be partnering with the Michigan Pharmacists Association (MPA) for joint providership of accredited pharmacy continuing education for both pharmacists AND technicians. We will be updating our website with new instructions for submitting CE credit starting with the September meeting and providing instructions at each program.

Thanks to everyone who joined us June 30th for the annual summer outing at Fifth Third Ballpark to watch the West Michigan Whitecaps on a beautiful summer night. It’s always great to have a fun night of networking with other pharmacists, technicians, family and friends. If you’re interested in more social networking opportunities, the Michigan Pharmacy Foundation (MPF) is hosting Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 15th at Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids. The cost is $175/person (60% is tax-deductible) and includes dinner, a brewery tour, and guided tasting with Founders’ brewery experts. The event is open to all pharmacy professionals and their friends, spouses and significant others. The money raised will be used by the MPF to support investments in the future of pharmacy through scholarships and grant funding. More information about the event, the Foundation and overnight lodging accommodations can be found at www.michiganpharmacists.org/Oktoberfest. The deadline to purchase tickets is Monday, October 3rd.

We look forward to seeing many of you Thursday, September 8th for our first CE event of the 2016-2017 year at Uccello's in Grand Rapids, where Derek J. Vander Horst, Pharm.D. will be giving a presentation on “HIV Pharmacotherapy: Back to the Basics“ for 1 live CE credit for pharmacists and technicians. Please consider encouraging any pharmacists and technicians you know who are not WMSHP members to consider joining. The $40 annual membership fee gives members access to up to 7 hours of live CE credits from our regular monthly meetings September through November and January through April. With an additional registration fee, our annual Spring Seminar in May provides another 5 hours.

We hope to see you September 8th!

Summer is here! We hope many of you will be able to join us for our annual summer outing at Fifth Third Ballpark to watch the West Michigan Whitecaps take on the Bowling Green Hot Rods on Thursday, June 30th. Admission is free for registered WMSHP members, and $14.50 for non-members (friends & family). Each ticket includes a complementary hot dog and soda. The game night promotion is $2 Pepsi products, $2 hot dogs, $2 beers and Social Media Night.  Children under 2 years of age get in free. Parking is $7 and is paid on-site.

The WMSHP Board is in need of a technician board member for the remainder of the 2016-2017 two year term (committed until December 31, 2017). If you are interested in serving on the executive board, please submit your name and practice site to the current President, Becky Maynard at rebecca.maynard@borgess.com. For more information on executive board service, click here to review the WMSHP Bylaws. Any additional questions can be directed to Becky Maynard at the email above.

The 2016-2017 Michigan Pharmacy Foundation Health Professional Leadership Academy is accepting applications, and WMSHP is offering one scholarship to a qualified pharmacist. The application for the next year of the academy can be accessed online by clicking here. To be considered for sponsorship from WMSHP, please submit your completed application to Becky Maynard at rebecca.maynard@borgess.com by midnight on Sunday, June 5th. 

The Health Professional Leadership Academy is a year-long program designed to train healthcare providers and administrators in the skills necessary to lead teams and organizations in interdisciplinary settings. The Academy is an excellent way to expand your network, increase your involvement in Association and professional activities, and acquire the skill sets that are essential to any leadership role.  Enrollment in the Academy gets you access to:

• Four face-to-face workshops covering core leadership topics
• Eight online webinars, interfacing with the top leaders in the healthcare industry
• Access to our members-only online forum to receive coaching and advice from past graduates of the Academy

For more information about the Academy, please contact Eric Roath, Pharm.D., Executive Director of the Michigan Pharmacy Foundation at Eric@MichiganPharmacists.org.

It is finally time to wrap up our 2015-2016 WMSHP year with Spring Seminar on Wednesday, May 11th. We would like to thank Corinne English, PharmD, and Julie Schmidt, PharmD for presenting their residency projects at our April meeting. It is always wonderful to see the great work of our local pharmacy residents, and we wish all of them good luck at the Great Lakes Pharmacy Resident Conference next week!

Registration is still open for the 47th Annual WMSHP Spring Seminar until May 4th. Onsite registration will be available for an additional $10. We encourage early registration to ensure sufficient seating and materials. Registration can be made online and paid by credit card at www.wmshp.net/seminar.

As many of you may have already seen, the Michigan Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs (LARA) has now provided guidance on how the Department is going to be enforcing the CE requirement for technician licensure. Here is an excerpt of the most recent information that we have:

• LARA is NOT going to require any pharmacy technician CE until licenses expire in June 2017 (meaning pharmacy technicians who have their licenses come due on June 30, 2016 do not need to have CE (this time only).
• In June 2017, if the pharmacy technician has had their license:
  • Less than one year – there will be no CE required
  • Greater than 1 year, but less than 2 = 10 hours of CE
  • For 2 years = 20 hours
• The 20 hours of CE must include 1 hour in pain and symptom management, 1 hour in patient safety and 1 hour in pharmacy law with at least 5 of the CE credits earned by attending live courses
• The Department will NO longer be accepting the PTCB Universal CE Forms that WMSHP has used in the past. In order to ensure that technicians renewing in June 2017 have CE that can be used in their renewal, WMSHP has taken immediate action to obtain ACPE accreditation for technicians at Spring Seminar.

As always, if you would like more information about WMSHP, please visit our website at wmshp.net. We hope to see you May 11th!

We are on the home stretch for wrapping up our 2015-2016 WMSHP year. A big thank you to Danielle Daunais, PharmD, BCACP for her wonderful March presentation, “Long Live the Liver: Updates on the Battle Against Hepatitis C.”

On April 14th we will be back at Uccello’s in Grand Rapids for our annual residency project presentations. The two residents and their project titles are:

• Corinne English – “Dexmedetomidine versus Usual Care for Treatment of Severe Alcohol Withdrawal in the Medical Intensive Care Unit” (Spectrum Health)
• Julie Schmidt – “Feasibility of an Early Discharge Protocol in Patients with New Venous Thromboembolism in an Emergency Department” (Bronson Methodist Hospital)

WMSHP is still accepting scholarship applications from eligible P3 students. The Board increased the scholarship to one $1,000 scholarship and one $500 this year. Applications must be submitted by April 8th, and the winners will be announced at the WMSHP Annual Spring Seminar. For more information, visit wmshp.net/scholarship.

Registration is now open for our 2016 Spring Seminar at the Prince Conference Center in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, May 11th with 5 hours of continuing education credit. Members will be receiving the pamphlet shortly, or you can view the schedule and register anytime at wmshp.net/seminar. The deadline for pre-registration is May 4th. We hope to see you there!

As always, if you would like more information about WMSHP, please visit our website at wmshp.net.

Things are finally starting to warm up and bring hope for an early spring. Thank you to everyone who attended our February meeting where Sara Feinauer, PharmD, BCPS, spoke about the new PCSK9 inhibitors. We look forward to our upcoming continuing education program, "Long Live the Liver: Updates on the Battle against Hepatitis C" by Danielle Daunais, Pharm.D., BCACP on March 10th at Bronson in Kalamazoo.

Our area residents have submitted their residency project abstracts for consideration to speak at our April meeting. It is great to see how the next generation of pharmacists are making contributions to pharmacy practice, and we look forward to hearing from the two residents that are selected.

We had a great kick-start to 2016 with our January meeting at Old Burdick's at Wings West in Kalamazoo. Trevor Warner, PharmD, presented an "Update on Pain Management and Opioid Induced Constipation." A big thank you to Trevor for a wonderfully informative program!

Our next meeting will be back in Grand Rapids at the Wege Center in the lower level classrooms. Sara Feinauer, PharmD, BCPS will be presenting on "Statin Intolerance and the novel PCSK9 Inhibitors". Hope to see you there!