Making the Case for Pharmacy

UH APhA-ASP Chapter's Advocacy Efforts at the National, State and Local Level Lauded by Texas Pharmacy Association 

The UH Chapter of the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists' work championing the pharmacy profession and other healthcare-related issues drew high praise from the Texas Pharmacy Association in the form of the Student Advocacy Award at the 2014 TPA Conference & Expo July 31-Aug. 1 in San Marcos. 

TPA President Charlotte Weller and past TPA Student Executive Committee's Amanda Beck present the Student Advocacy Award to UHCOP's Faizan Sattar, Scott Ondrasek, Erin McGregor and Katie Williams.

Among the chapter's activities on note were:

• Organizing and hosting a town hall meeting on the "Affordable Care Act" at the UH campus, with speakers the Texas House of Representatives, the U.S. House of Representatives, the City of Houston's Department of Health and Human Services, the Texas Pharmacy Association and the Texas PharmPAC. 
• Meeting with elected offiicals and their staff members in Austin and Washington, D.C., as part of the 2013 APhA Summer Leadership Institute and the 2014 TPA Spring Leadership Symposium;
• Position outreach to state and federal elected officials via letters, emails and phone calls on a variety of pharmacy and healthcare issues; and
• Receiving the consecutive City of Houston Mayoral Proclamation recognizing American Pharmacists Month.  

In addition, the chapter promoted voter registration at several organizational meetings, health fairs and other events (chapter leaders were deputized as official Harris County Volunteer Voter Registrars). 

Other UH student highlights from the meeting included:

• Students Erin McGregor, Kim Anh Pham and Bianca Romero competiting in the Patient Counseling Competition, with McGregor finishing in Second Place;
• Texas Pharmacy Scholarships awarded to UH students Kim Anh Pham (Larry “Neal” McClaugherty Scholarship) and Ally Thrall (TPF Scholarship); and
• The team of Jenny Choi, Heidi Day and Zachary Kirk represented the college in the Self-Care Competition.

UHCOP's representatives on the 2014-15 TPA Student Executive Committee are Faizan Sattar and Scott Ondrasek.