Faculty, students and alumni from Wilkes University’s Nesbitt School of Pharmacy played a significant role at the recent annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association, held October 1-4 in Grantville, Pa. The weekend featured educational presentations and opportunities for mentoring and entertainment. Wilkes had the largest student turnout of any school of pharmacy. In addition, more than 40 percent of the speakers at the convention were Wilkes faculty, students and alumni.
Julie Olenak, assistant dean of Student Affairs, Nesbitt School of Pharmacy, and alumnus Vince Hartzell presented the American Pharmacists Association’s (APhA) immunization certification program. 110 pharmacists received certification through the program. It was one of 12 national APhA programs offered throughout the country.
Tom Franko, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, and student pharmacists Brittany Wills and Lauren Lockus presented the program “The Dr. Oz Games: The Odds Are Never in Your Favor.” The program was designed to help pharmacists combat the “Dr. Oz Effect.” Patients are often influenced by television doctors, especially Dr. Oz. The “Dr. Oz Effect” is responsible for tremendous sales in products that lack any evidence as to their safety or efficacy. The Wilkes program enabled pharmacists to provide patients with the real information behind several popular products.
Franko also presented “Weighted Dice, Counting Cards and Other Methods of Stacking the Deck against Opioid Conversions.” The program aimed to simplify the complex and convoluted world of opioid conversions regardless of practice setting in an effort to improve patient safety.
Judy Kristeller, associate professor of pharmacy practice, and students Alisa Daniels, Tori Sallo and Felicia Snyder presented the program “Medication Reconciliation: Playing It Safe Across Care Transitions.” The presentation focused on improving medication management through the patient-pharmacist interaction that occurs during medication reconciliation. The program highlighted how medication-related problems are common during care transitions and how they can be identified and prevented by a pharmacist or pharmacy student interacting with patients during medication reconciliation.
Kim Ference, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, presented the program “Incorporating Interprofessional Education Experiences into Everyday Pharmacy Practice – A Safe Bet for Improving Patient Care.” She reviewed basic requirements and objectives for an interprofessional experience.
Wilkes alumni also made several presentations:
- Adam Wood PharmD ’10 presented “Alphabet Roulette: Hedging Your Bets with Herbal, Mineral and Vitamin Options for the Ambulatory Patient.” The presentation featured an evidence-based approach to alternative therapies with a primary focus on herbal remedies.
- William Conaboy PharmD ’08 presented “How a Patchwork of Federal and State ‘House Rules’ for Rx Compounding, Telemedicine and E-Prescribing Affect the Practice of Pharmacy.” Conaboy reviewed current federal and state regulation of telemedicine and e-prescribing with a focus on how such regulation, or lack thereof, affects the practice of pharmacy. He also reviewed the current state of federal prescription drug compounding.
Several students also accepted awards and entered a poster competition:
- Jennifer Smith and Trina Patel accept the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association Student Membership Award.
- Anthony Fanucci, Paige Pientka, Vladimir Russ and Ashley Robold submitted a poster to the Achieving Independence Competition, which challenges student teams to create a fiscally viable business plan for opening a new pharmacy in Pennsylvania or purchasing an existing pharmacy and implementing new concepts. Russ and Robold presented the submission. Ference was faculty advisor for the project.
