Well, it appears Old Man Winter did not forget about us after all. Snow and frigid temperatures are back and winter has officially begun but that isn't stopping WMSHP.

The January meeting resulted in good attendance and a very informative talk on heart failure by Dr. Michael Mitchuka. Despite the threat of dangerous roads and heavy snowfall, many members were able to attend. I can only hope for similar results for the remainder of the winter months.

Brad Miller, PharmD will updating us on recent happenings in Emergency Medicine. The meeting will be held at Saint Mary's Lacks Cancer Center on February 9.

Attention Pharmacy Residents!  Don't forget to submit your Great Lakes Project abstract to WMSHP if you would like the opportunity to present your project to our members at our April meeting. Two residents will be selected to present their projects on Friday, April 13 prior to everyone attending the last Grand Rapids Griffins game of the year. This is a great opportunity to practice your presentation before attending the Great Lakes Conference.

The holidays are upon us once again and it is hard to believe that another year is over. As we get ready to welcome 2012, it is also time to welcome a new set of board members to the WMSHP family.

First, I would like to welcome back Dana Staat as President-Elect. Dana served as WMSHP president in 2008 and returned as a Board Member in 2011. Thank you to Dana for agreeing to serve as President-Elect again.

I would also like to thank Kim Melgarejo (Treasurer), Ciji Marckini (Technician), and Kristina Rak (Board Member) who all agreed to continue in their previous positions and survived the tight election this year.

Our newest board members are Kasey Bucher and Abby Sturm from Saint Mary's Health Care in Grand Rapids and Kari Vavra, PharmD of Ferris State University.

The next monthly meeting will be held on January 12, 2012 at Borgess Medical center in the Lawrence Education Center Auditorium. Michael Mitchutka, PharmD will be presenting "From Heart Failure to Heart Success".

Save the Date! This year's WMSHP Spring Seminar will be held on May 14, 2012 at the Prince Conference Center on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids.

In the January 2012 WMSHP Newsletter, Chelsey Timmer, a PGY1 pharmacy resident at Spectrum Health, writes about therapy for suspected cyanide poisoning.

Click Here for Full Article...

Congratulations to our new and returning board members for 2012!

President-Elect: Dana Staat

Treasurer: Kim Melgarejo

Technician: Ciji Marckini

Board Members: Kasey Bucher, Kristina Rowley, Abby Sturm, & Kari Vavra

Listed below are the nominees for next year's new WMSHP officers.  Each active WMSHP member will receive an official ballot in the mail within the next few days.  This ballot should be completed and either mailed back to us, or given directly to a current WMSHP board member.  All votes must be received before the November General Meeting on November 10, 2011.  Results will be announced at the meeting.

Proposed Addition to the WMSHP By-Laws:

It is proposed that the following definition be added to Chapter II, Article I, Section 1 of the WMSHP By-Laws:

D. "STUDENT" MEMBER: A person enrolled at a college or university in a pharmacy or pharmacy technician curriculum who supports the objectives of the Society may apply for a Student membership. A Student member shall be eligible for the services of the Society, but is not eligible to vote or hold an elected office. Student members shall be exempt from payment of annual dues.

President:

Dana Staat, Pharm.D. is a Clinical Pharmacist in Internal Medicine at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI. Dana attended Ferris State University for her Pharm.D. degree and completed a PGY1 residency at Spectrum Health. Dana's interest areas include infectious disease, cystic fibrosis, and pugs.

Treasurer:

Kim Melgarejo (INCUMBENT) is currently a Pharmacy Manager at Borgess Medical Center and Borgess Pipp Hospital. She been a member of WMSHP since 2005 and treasurer since 2007.

Technician:

Ciji Marckini (INCUMBENT) has been a certified pharmacy technician for 6 years and is currently working at Spectrum Health as lead medication reconciliation technician. She have a biomedical science degree from Grand Valley State University. While going to school at GVSU she started working at Walgreens pharmacy and became certified. After becoming certified, she started teaching technician certification classes for the Grand Rapids Walgreens district. She started working at Spectrum health 4 years ago as an inpatient technician and then a medication reconciliation technician. In October of 2010 she became lead medication reconciliation technician.

Patty Vander Hoff is currently Program Chair at Sanford Brown College Grand Rapids campus for the Medical Billing/Coding, Medical Billing and Administrative Specialist, and Health Information Technology with possible Pharmacy Technician certification program. She has been a Certified Pharmacy Technician since 2000, and has 23 years experience in retail pharmacy and 13 years in a hospital pharmacy. She was a Pharmacy Technician Educator at West Michigan Center for Arts & Technology (WMCAT 2/09 -11/09). She has been a member of the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board since 2000, and a previous member of Pharmacy Technician Educator Council (PTEC 2009-2010) and National Pharmacy Technician Association (NPTA 2009-2010).

Board:

Kristina Rowley (INCUMBENT) completed her Pharm.D. training at Ferris State University. She completed her PGY1 residency at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo, MI. Then, she completed her PGY2 residency with a specialty in Ambulatory Care at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI. She currently practices at the Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies Clinic as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice with Ferris State University.

Kasey Bucher graduated from the Ferris State University College of Pharmacy in 2008 and then went on to complete a PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency and a PGY-2 Specialty Residency in Critical Care. Kasey recently joined the clinical pharmacy team at St. Mary's Health Care in Grand Rapids, Michigan as an Emergency Medicine Clinical Specialist.

Louis Kynard MBA, Pharm D. has practiced in the profession of pharmacy since 1984. He has served in various roles throughout his career in pharmacy as Informatics Pharmacist, Purchasing Supervisor, Pharmacy Site Manager, Regional Director of Pharmaceutical Care and Respiratory Care and currently serves as the Director of Pharmacy Services at Bronson Methodist Hospital. Dr. Kynard's primary focus as a leader has been Patient Safety, and was involved in the implementation of Automation and Progressive Pharmacist Clinical models at several hospitals prior to joining the Pharmacy Team at Bronson.

Michael Michutka is a clinical pharmacy specialist in Internal Medicine at Borgess Medical Center. He graduated with his Doctor of Pharmacy in 2009 from Ferris State University and completed an ASHP accredited PGY-1 at Borgess in 2010. Michael's professional interests include heart failure, acute coronary syndrome and public health.

Abby Sturm graduated with a Pharm.D. from Butler University in 2004, and then completed 2 years of residency experience at Clarian/IU Health Partners in Indianapolis,Indiana with a focus in IM/Family Medicine. Following residency, she worked in as a clinical pharmacist and adjunct faculty for the University of Cincinnati. In 2008, she began working as a staff pharmacist at St. Mary's Hospital after she and her husband moved to Grand Rapids. Currently, she is a part-time clinical pharmacist at St. Mary's and full-time mother of 2 kids.

Kari Vavra, Pharm.D. is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Ferris State University College of Pharmacy. Her General Medicine clinical practice site is at Spectrum Health-Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in May 2009 from Ferris State University College of Pharmacy. After obtaining her Pharm.D., she completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at Sparrow Health System in Lansing, Michigan. Kari is a current member of several professional organizations, including MPA and MSHP, and hopes to become more actively involved as a member of WMSHP!

Cherie Woodhams is a graduate of Ferris State University and currently practices as a Pharmacy Educator at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, MI. Cherie currently holds the position of WMSHP's Past President and is also a MSHP Board Member. She looks forward to continue to serve the members of WMSHP.