Congratulations to Camille Troyer and Jessica Bixby, who will be representing the state of Washington December 5 & 6 in the national American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Clinical Skills Competition.
The CSC, an interactive, team-based analysis of clinical scenarios for hospital and health-system pharmacists, provides PY2, PY3 and PY4 pharmacy students the opportunity to enhance their skills in collaborative practice with physicians in providing direct patient care. Comprised of pharmacy teams representing schools all over the country, the competition will be showcased this weekend during the ASHP’s annual December Mid-Year Clinical Meeting.
UWSOP Professor of Pharmacy Doug Black (along with fellow Professor of Pharmacy Lingtak-Neander Chan) has served as a local ASHP judge and mentor for nearly two decades, and the local competition this year hosted a record turnout with 46 teams and a total of 92 students participating – nearly a quarter of the SOP student body.
Doug notes a couple of contributing factors regarding this year’s increased participation.
“The student leaders who put this together do a really good job of promotion,” he said. “And I also think our students understand that the work they do here helps when they apply for residencies or jobs. It’s a recognized accomplishment they can put on their resume.”
Though Camille Troyer and Jessica Bixby emerged victorious and will represent UWSOP in the upcoming national competition, Doug and his colleagues have a lot of appreciation for all students who work so hard to prepare and compete in the event, as they take time out of an already-packed schedule of classroom and research lab work, year after year.
“It takes a lot of courage on the students’ part to jump into this thing, particularly as PY2 students,” he said. “These cases are difficult, and only the PY4s have completed their therapeutics – yet they all jump in and give it their best. I admire them for that.”
Though it would be nice to win the competition this year (the School’s last national victory was in 2011), Doug says the true reward is watching students and teams grow year after year.
“For me, as a professor, watching them get better over four years is just great evidence that people really do learn here,” he said. “For Lingtak and I, to see them evolve is really gratifying. I wish all faculty could see that – it makes you feel good about what you do.”
For more information on the event: