Maria Nguyen is a second-year PharmD candidate at the Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy and was the 2022–2023 Region 4 APhA–ASP Midyear Regional Meeting Coordinator.
The first time that I had heard the term “student pharmacist,” I was listening to a student Q&A panel while I toured the Ohio Northern University (ONU) Raabe College of Pharmacy. The phrase itself piqued my interest since it sounded like an official title for a student. It wasn’t until I attended my first pharmacy class that I heard this phrase being repeated by an instructor, who was enthusiastically telling us student pharmacists that we had such a grand future waiting for us. Soon after, I heard about APhA–ASP.
I first got involved with APhA–ASP during my third year at ONU as a student member. Joining that late may come as a surprise to most; however, being in a direct 0–6 program made me feel a bit more relieved with the extended amount of time to balance out the benefits of being a full-fledged member.
But it wasn’t until I had attended my first professional meeting the following fall semester that I truly experienced all the benefits of being a member of APhA–ASP.
My #MRMMoment
I had attended the Midyear Regional Meeting (MRM) that had been conveniently located in my hometown of Cincinnati. Before I had time to register for the meeting, my friends had told me that I should “attend the regional officer interest meeting” at the end of the opening session. I rolled my eyes at them and told them that the responsibility of holding a regional officer position seemed so distant from where I stood.
Despite this, after the MRM opening session, I gravitated toward the front of the conference room and ended up attending the interest meeting. There were two positions that were open for student pharmacists to run for: regional delegate and midyear regional meeting coordinator (MRMC). The overwhelming support and motivation from my friends, my chapter, and my future co-regional officer and close friend, Bryce Mortera, served as a spark to ignite the APhA–ASP flame that I had just started. This support from all directions gave me the courage to run for the MRMC position and to persevere through balancing academics at my university as well as many late-night virtual meetings with fellow MRMCs preparing for APhA2023 in the spring and MRM in the fall.
After the results of the regional officer elections were announced, I still couldn’t believe that I was taking on the Region 4 MRMC role. I could sense the impending wave of impostor syndrome hitting me. However, this wave didn’t diminish me, as I was immediately introduced to a group of other student pharmacists who had a similar spark for APhA–ASP. Meeting fellow student pharmacists who had this passionate drive to serve in a regional officer position resulted in me finding solace with like-minded and life-long friends.
A successful new format
MRM2023 looked and felt so much different than previous years. The set-up of MRM2023 allowed student pharmacists to attend the programming in the comforts of their home, on-campus with a chapter watch party, or onsite in Washington, DC. The other MRMCs and I took this opportunity to communicate more with a designated MRM liaison from each chapter. This allowed us to receive more information and gain more insight as to what each chapter was planning to get involved with MRM2023.
As MRM2023 was approaching, all regional officers and APhA–ASP National Executive Committee (NEC) members had a brief meeting to go over all the logistics before student pharmacists arrived at APhA headquarters for the MRM2023 kick-off on Friday.
Saturday was the busiest day for regional officers and the NEC, but it was amazing experiencing MRM onsite at Convene, the convention center. The MRMCs and regional delegates were tasked with being guides for speakers and their sessions, engaging with the chat during sessions, and facilitating the Fast 5 session. The Fast 5 was a quick Q&A session where the MRMC must ask the speaker 5 questions within 5 minutes about their session. Most of these questions were sent into the chat from virtual attendees.
Sunday was the day for regional business meetings, where MRMCs were tasked to open the session along with an NEC member. For the most part, MRMCs acted as moderators for the business meetings and encouraged student pharmacists to give their feedback.
Overall, MRM2023 was very memorable and it was amazing to watch chapters in different states gather for this event. It was impactful to see how this change in format encouraged chapters that may not have been able to attend MRM in the past.
Get involved and gain perspective
APhA–ASP offers so many different leadership experiences and opportunities to develop yourself professionally as a student pharmacist. Reflecting on this past year helped me realize that serving in a regional officer position opens your world and gives you so much more perspective for both you and the world of pharmacy.
Find your spark and tend to that fire within you!