Hi Everyone!
I’m writing to you as I travel back from Nashville, TN! This past weekend, myself and around twenty other Ohio State students attended the American Pharmacists Association (APhA)’s Annual Meeting. We had so much fun! The weekend was a perfect blend of networking, professional development, and fun. It was my first time visiting Nashville and I loved it.
For context, APhA is a national organization dedicated to supporting the profession of pharmacy. We have a student chapter of this organization here at OSU’s College of Pharmacy. Under national leadership, our student chapter focuses on advocating for the profession of pharmacy in our home state of Ohio and on providing pharmacy care services to our community. An example of our advocacy work would be the letter writing campaigns that we host as a way to connect with our state legislative representatives on issues like provider status for pharmacists. An example of a patient care project would be our project “OTC Medication Safety.” For this, we’ll host kids from local schools and do activities with them that cover topics like how to safely take medication with the help of a trusted adult.
Every year, APhA hosts a national conference for pharmacists and pharmacy students. Here’s a link to their website if you’d like to take a look at the schedule and read more about the sessions we attended! I really enjoyed getting to meet other student pharmacists from schools across the nation at these sessions. http://aphameeting.pharmacist.com
Here’s a picture of our chapter President accepting an award we won! Go Bucks!
Outside of the conference itself, we had the opportunity to explore the city. One restaurant of note was this place called “The Pharmacy” – how fitting! This “burger parlor and beer garden” served up some delicious German-inspired burgers and milkshakes in a fun twist on the classic, old-timey soda fountain pharmacies. If you’re ever in East Nashville, I highly recommend stopping by!
If you have questions about the conference or if you want to hear more about the awesome places we visited in Nashville, feel free to send me an email at Williams.4020@osu.edu! Now it’s time to unpack and get ready for the rest of the semester!
-Victoria