The 2015 ASCP Annual Meeting and Exhibition took place at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino from October 30 to November 1st. The conference had a long and interesting list of education sessions, a full exhibit hall, and product theaters (Actavis, Pfizer, Mylan, etc). The conference started with an opening general session featuring Zappos Insights along with a speech from ASCP’s leaders including current President, Dr. Nicole Brandt. Every educational event offered an opportunity for every individual attending to review their clinical knowledge, learn new updates, and think about how to utilize the information in their everyday decision-making as a pharmacist or pharmacy student. A few of the sessions that I attended include: 2015 Beer’s Criteria update, how to select the right oral anticoagulant for the geriatric patient, renal dose adjustments, and alternative approaches to behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Each educational session I attended helped me understand my class lectures better as I reviewed my notes and allowed my brain to connect the material from the current educational talk with what I have learned before.
The exhibition hall housed many different booths related to pharmacy but also reserved sections for the chapter research posters, student event posters, and a student lounge. This allowed more students to be involved and converse with others about what they are currently doing at their school regarding ASCP events. The ASCP-UW chapter shared, at the time, our latest osteoporosis screening at a Korean Health Fair, which a fair number of people were very interested in and even took photos of the poster. Regarding our research poster on what our ASCP chapter is developing, many people were also interested in how we have fostered into a great chapter and how we utilize our resources to benefit the chapter and students including the Plein Certificate.
This year’s ASCP annual conference conveyed a theme of how important it is to develop oneself as a pharmacist and being a leader in pharmacy which I believe was conveyed very well. In particular, I really enjoyed Dr. Brandt’s speech because it made me feel like I knew her as a person (how personable she was as a speaker) and I could see her compassion as a pharmacist as well as her ability to lead others. What I hope to see from next year’s ASCP annual conference is incorporating more student-to-student interaction in the events. I am excited for the next annual conference, which will be located at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas from November 4 to 6 of 2016.
University of Washington School of Pharmacy
UW Student ASCP Chapter
Box 357631
Seattle, WA 98195-7631
