By Quyen Bui
November 21, 2014 — Quyen Bui, Songlin Cai, and Brian Martisius attended the National
Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) national conference in Austin, Texas, October
18–22, 2014. During the convention, they attended future pharmacist programming workshops
to broaden their knowledge about independent pharmacies and learned how to become
leaders and advocates for the pharmacy profession.
“It was such an amazing experience,” says Songlin Cai. “This is the first national
convention I’ve attended, everything was cool and exciting. I really enjoyed going
to the community residency showcase. In the past, when people thought of residencies
it was mostly for hospitals, but that’s no longer the case. With community pharmacies
expanding their role in health care, I think residencies are a great way to prepare
students for the future. I also loved going to the exhibit hall, there are so many
new technologies out there today to help increase patient compliance.”
Independent pharmacies are an important part of the healthcare system. They place
a strong emphasis on patient centered care and are among the most accessible and trusted
sources of care for patients. “It was with great pleasure that I had the opportunity
to attend the NCPA National Convention,” says Quyen Bui, president of the NCPA chapter.
“It provided me the essential insight and networking for independent pharmacy, a penchant
that I want for my career. With the three of us serving as our chapter’s business
plan committee, the Business Plan Showcase Event granted us useful knowledge and information
to complete the missing puzzles that we need for our business plan. This is something
that we are really proud to be a part of and we can’t wait to share what we learned
to others to make our plan a better one.”
Photo:
UW NCPA members Quyen Bui, Brian Martisius, Songlin Cai attended the NCPA national conference in October. (photo courtesy of Quyen Bui)