Spectacularly SNPHA

UHCOP Chapter Rakes in Top Awards, Finalist Honors in Competitions at National Conference

Sept. 27 — The University of Houston College of Pharmacy Chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association locked up several national scholarships and awards, including a $10,000 competitive service grant, as well as finalist honors in other award categories at the 2022 SNPhA National Conference this summer in Atlanta, Ga. 

National Initiative Awards

The UHCOP Chapter brought home five out of eight possible awards for their hard work implementing local projects based on the following SNPhA national initiatives:

• Bridging the Gap — collaborations with the UH PrePharmacy Association, including a PharmCAS informational, mock interviews, leadership panel, and mentorship program; 
• Fighting Diabetes — presentations on smoking cessation among diabetic patients, roles of ambulatory care pharmacist and digital medicine clinical pharmacist in diabetes disease state management, and clinical pharmacists in the institutional corrections;
• Mental Health — presentations on Question Pause Refer (QPR), suicide prevention/crisis workshop, bullying, domestic violence, and impact of technology;
• Power to End Stroke — presentations on smoking cessation, drug-drug interaction stroke medication, aphasia, and emergency medicine pharmacists, and blood pressure screening skills check-off for first-year students; and
• Project Keepsake — presentations on polycystic kidney disease and the role of transplant pharmacists, training and certification for Kidney Health Coach, and volunteering at Nora's Home, a nonprofit guest home providing accommodations for transplantation patients.

Prescription for Service Winner

Students Lauren Lee, Noemie Senawong and Josiah Willingham – working under the moniker, "Lung Defenders" – won first place and a $10,000 scholarship in the Walmart Prescription for Service competition. The team won for its project providing smoking cessation counseling and nicotine replacement therapy to Houston-area individuals experiencing homelessness. The UHCOP team was one of three finalist teams who had received a $2,500 grants at SNPhA regional meetings in March and invitations to present their projects at the national conference. 

Clinical Skills Competition Finalists

Students Andrew Jiang and Trina Mercado finished second in the Kroger Clinical Skills Competition, which challenges teams to demonstrate their pharmaceutical knowledge, patient assessment, clinical presentation skills, and effective patient counseling. Armed with a patient case and medication profile, competitors must identify pharmacy-related issues, present an appropriate pharmaceutical care plan, and conduct a counseling session.

Medical Science Liaison Competition Finalist

Pharm.D. candidate Rhedda Onihana also took second place in the AstraZeneca Medical Science Liaison Competition, which required students to analyze and present a study on the kinase inhibitor cancer drug osimertinib to a group of oncology medical science liaisons (MSLs), clinical oncologists, and key opinion leaders in oncology.

Business Competition Finalists

In addition, Onihana and fellow student Yashvi Patel teamed with Texas Southern University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Pharm.D. students Chidindu (Chiddy) Aderibigbe and Janai Minga to take third place in the LEAP at Lilly^® Business Competition. The competition requires teams to submit responses to how Lilly can leverage pharmacists and their experiences for historically overlooked populations and how SNPhA and its parent, the National Pharmaceutical Association and organization sponsors can better serve patients taking Lilly products.

Scholarship Recipients

Pharm.D. candidates Senawong and Andrew Doan were awarded the National Pharmaceutical Association Foundation's Dr. Barry Bleidt Endowed Scholarship and the Walmart Health and Wellness Endowed Scholarship, respectively.

Regional Recognition, Conference Advisor Award

In addition to the chapter being recognized for hosting a SNPhA regional conference in the spring, UHCOP Associate Professor and Chapter Advisor Louis Williams, Ph.D., was honored with the Advisor of the Year Regions III, IV & V Conference Award.

Chapter Excellence Award

Overall, the UHCOP SNPhA Chapter was recognized as the runner-up finalist in the Large Chapter category for the SNPhA/Rite Aid Chauncey I. Cooper Chapter Excellence Award (aka "chapter of the year"). The sting of losing to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy Chapter was tempered by the fact that UHCOP alumna and past Academic Pharmacy Fellow Tyler M. Kyles, Pharm.D., BC-ADM, serves as the UTHSC chapter adviser and a clinical assistant professor at the institution.