October 15, 2008
October is American Pharmacists Month and St. John’s University
College
of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions is again celebrating
with activities and
events.
The St. John’s student chapter of the American Pharmacist
Association (APhA-ASP) kicked off the celebration on October 2 with
a trip to the CBS Morning Show in Manhattan where meteorologist
Dave Price acknowledged the student pharmacists and stressed the
importance of talking to your pharmacist. Accompanied by
their faculty advisor Maria Sulli, Pharm.D., the students joined
APhA chapters from other pharmacy schools around the New York
metropolitan area.
In a highly popular event on October 16, fifth- and sixth-year
Pharmacy students will have the opportunity to practice their
patient care planning skills in a fun way at the Clinical Skills
competition. Teams of two students will be provided with a written
patient case scenario provided by the American Society of Health-System
Pharmacists and have two hours to identify and prioritize all
the medical problems afflicting the patient. With standard print
references provided, they must recommend appropriate drug therapy
to manage the patient’s disease states/medical problems.
In addition, student teams will have to create a monitoring plan
to avoid/identify medication toxicity and make sure the drug
therapy recommended is effective. At the end of the two hours, each
team will have 10 minutes to present their care plans to a panel of
faculty judges. There’s also a question/answer session after which
the judges will evaluate both the written care plan and the oral
presentation.
The competition will be held at 4 p.m. in St. Albert Hall, rooms
122 and 130. The winning team will win a trip and registration to
the 43rd Annual ASHP Midyear
Clinical Meeting and Exhibition in December where they will
represent St. John’s in the national competition. (In 2005, St.
John’s placed in the top 10 out of more than 80 teams at the
national competition.) More information on that competition
can be found
here.
Also on October 16, Pharmacy students will have the opportunity
to meet professionals from the many national and local
organizations and affiliates that involve pharmacists. This
Pharmacy Organization Day provides students with information about
the organizations’ work, as well as opportunities in the field.
Table will be set up in the CVS Lounge from 9 a.m.—3
p.m.
The highlight of American Pharmacist Month will be the Third-Year
Pharmacy White Coat Convocation on October 15 at 7:30 PM in
Marillac Auditorium. At that ceremony, College of Pharmacy Alumnus
John Coster, Ph.D., R. Ph., Vice President of Federal Affairs and
Public Policy for Rite Aid Corporation, will address the students.
Immediately following, the students will be called to the stage to
receive their white pharmacist coat from Dean Mangione, signifying
their entry into the professional portion of the six-year
program. They’ll also receive a College patch for the coat’s
sleeve.
Other events taking place during American Pharmacist Month at
St. John’s include:
Pharmacy Organization Day
October 16,
2008
9 a.m.–3 p.m.
CVS/pharmacy Student Lounge
College Research Poster Day
October 20,
2008
9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
St. Albert Hall, First Floor
Pharmacy Residency/Fellowship
Showcase
October 24, 2008
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Council Hall
Osteoporosis Screening by College of
Pharmacy students supervised by their faculty
October 27,
2008
Dr. Andrew J. Bartilucci Health Education Resource Center
St. Albert Hall