Pharmacy Students Win Bid for Regional Conference
The University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) recently won the bid to host the 2020 Regions III, IV, and V Annual Conference in Kentucky. The local student chapter hopes to welcome over 400 attendees, representing 29 states to Lexington, Ky. The conference will be held at the UK College of Pharmacy and the Hilton hotel in downtown Lexington.
Kip Guy, dean of the UK College of Pharmacy noted, “UK’s SNPhA chapter has been steadily growing with an increasing impact—hosting more volunteer events and positively impacting patients. Hosting the annual conference here allows UK faculty, students and pharmacists to share best practices while strengthening the impact of a national organization committed to serving the underserved.”
This year’s conference theme ENGAGE. EMPOWER. ELEVATE. will focus on the importance of collaboration between pharmacists and students throughout the profession, as well as the need to become life-long learners committed to transforming patient-centered care. UK SNPhA members are excited to show students from across the country the innovative health care that takes place every day in Lexington and throughout Kentucky. "We hope conference attendees will be energized throughout the weekend and encouraged to effect change in their own communities," said UK SNPHA president, Kellen Greenwell.
Conference offerings will include professional development workshops for student pharmacists centered around career preparation, financial literacy, interview skills, and residency preparation. In addition, seminars with a focus on cultural humility training and serving special population, allowing students to hear from a patient-led panel of experts and discuss the role of healthcare professions in advocating for patient care. Additional topics include examining the role of pharmacists in addressing the opioid epidemic and discussion around public policy and healthcare. While still in planning stages, the local chapter hopes to secure options for continuing education on topics like advancing the profession through advocacy and the legal and ethical questions for pharmacists when using marijuana for pain or disease management.
The annual conference will also host a scientific poster session, as well as clinical skills competition, which will take place in the state-of-the-art patient labs at the College of Pharmacy. The local SNPhA chapter will also host a Murder Mystery event at UK’s Spindletop Hall to allow a networking opportunity for SNPhA members and the members of the National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA), sponsors, and local pharmacists.
Registration for the 2020 Regions III, IV, and V Annual Conference opens this fall.
University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy SNPhA Executive Board
President: Kellen Greenwell
President-elect: Ariana Williams
Vice President: Olivia White
Secretary: Jasmine Browning
Treasurer: Dillon Thompson
Historians: Peyton Davis & Adam Kiser
Conference Planning Chair: Stephanie Dean
Conference Planning Vice-chair: Annie Roch
We wish to remember and honor those who inhabited this Commonwealth before the arrival of the Europeans. Briefly occupying these lands were the Osage, Wyndott tribe, and Miami peoples. The Adena and Hopewell peoples, who are recognized by the naming of the time period in which they resided here, were here more permanently. Some of their mounds remain in the Lexington area, including at UK’s Adena Park.
In more recent years, the Cherokee occupied southeast Kentucky, the Yuchi southwest Kentucky, the Chickasaw extreme western Kentucky and the Shawnee central Kentucky including what is now the city of Lexington. The Shawnee left when colonization pushed through the Appalachian Mountains. Lower Shawnee Town ceremonial grounds are still visible in Greenup County.
We honor the first inhabitants who were here, respect their culture, and acknowledge the presence of their descendants who are here today in all walks of life including fellow pharmacists and healthcare professionals.