AMCP STUDENT CHAPTER BRINGS HOME THE GOLD
Written By: Yogitha Pazhani, Chapter President and Third-Year Student Pharmacist
The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) presents its annual Chapter of the Year Award to three student chapters that have demonstrated the greatest innovation and commitment to establishing quality managed care programming for student pharmacists. The award highlights all of the programs and initiatives established by the winning chapters throughout the year, and as you might expect, the competition can be intense.
With dozens of student chapters vying for this coveted award, it was truly amazing – not to mention incredibly humbling – to hear our chapter announced as the first place winner of the Chapter of the Year Award at the AMCP Nexus 2017 in Grapevine, Texas in October.
Raising Awareness About Opportunities in Managed Care
The mission of our AMCP student chapter is to improve students’ understanding of concepts and career opportunities in managed care and industry. Our goal is to provide opportunities for students to gain exposure to the field by inviting speakers from managed care and industry to deliver presentations and meet with students at the School of Pharmacy. We also strive to develop and implement professional development events aimed at helping our members and other students across the School achieve their unique professional goals.
Building Sustainable Programming
Each year, our chapter strives to build upon the initiatives put in place by our previous executive board and members to create sustainable programs for students. For instance, to help expose students to managed care concepts, we host a local Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Competition that allows participants to analyze the cost-effectiveness of new medications on the market and critically examine medication-related literature and conduct comparative effectiveness research. The team selected as the winner of our competition then has the chance to enter their submission into the national P&T Competition hosted by AMCP.
In addition, to assist students with their professional development, we have implemented an Internship Prep Series (IPS) and Network Development Series (NDS). IPS supports students in their goal to obtain an internship by hosting CV/resume workshops and internship panels. IPS is open to students interested in all areas of pharmacy, including community and hospital. NDS represents the next step in professional development, providing students with the skills necessary to help them learn how to network. Later, students can implement the skills that they have learned at our annual AMCP Managed Care, Industry, and Regulatory Affairs Roundtable, which introduces participants to the wide range of careers available in managed care pharmacy.
We also regularly invite speakers from industry and managed care to present to students about residency and fellowship opportunities in managed care, as well as potential career options. Our Seminar Series is a series of webinars that aims to provide in-depth information about career opportunities, as well as the day-to-day life of a managed care or industry pharmacist. In addition, during each fall semester, we coordinate with fourth-year student pharmacists and current fellows, who are also alumni of the School, to host PPS 101: Intro to Fellowship Applications. Personnel Placement Service (PPS) is the application portal through which student pharmacists can apply for fellowships and set up interviews at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Meeting. The goal of this event is to educate students about what to expect during the fellowship application process and steps that they can take to enhance their competitiveness as an applicant based on the experience of previous fellows.
Expressing Our Gratitude
As with any notable achievement, this award is the result of the time and effort dedicated by numerous individuals to a common cause. In addition to the hard work put forth by our members and executive board, we are grateful to the many alumni of the School who have taken time from their busy schedules to talk with students about the field and support our chapter in many other intangible ways. Without everyone’s hard work, this remarkable achievement would not have been possible.