TOP HONORS FOR PATIENT COUNSELING AWARDED
TO UH STUDENT
Michelle Edwards from College of Pharmacy Wins National Award
HOUSTON, April 7, 2004 – Communication with patients and
other health care professionals is essential to a successful pharmacy
practice. Michelle Edwards, a UH College of Pharmacy student, demonstrated
her extraordinary ability to communicate under pressure at a national
competition.
She took first place in the Patient Counseling Competition for
students at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) national
convention in Seattle March 29.
Two years running as the local Houston winner, Edwards, a 2004
Pharm.D. candidate at the University of Houston, garnered a spot
at nationals to prove that she is the best in patient counseling.
Last year, she also placed among the top 10 out of nearly 90 pharmacy
colleges and schools across the nation, bringing home first place
honors this year.
“Having been a national finalist previously, the pressure
was on to perform well in this year’s competition,”
Edwards said. “I was pleased to have made the top 10 again
and overwhelmed with joy at finishing in first place.”
As the 2004 national winner, Edwards will be honored by the APhA
Academy of Students of Pharmacy (APhA-ASP) at the UH College of
Pharmacy’s graduation banquet held Friday, May 14, at the
Hyatt Regency Houston.
Representatives from 87 pharmacy colleges and schools across the
nation competed in a preliminary round that was then narrowed down
to the top 10. The contestants were given five minutes to mentally
prepare for a scenario presented to them where they had to counsel
a patient on an assigned medication. To keep things realistic, the
patients presented with some kind of communication barrier that
ranged from having read something off the Internet that confused
them to being in a hurry to leave the pharmacy. The students were
judged on their ability to maintain control of the counseling session.
Edwards emerged as the national winner and will receive $1000,
a plaque and the opportunity to return on an all-expense-paid trip
to judge the 2005 Patient Counseling Competition in Orlando. The
competition is sponsored by Pfizer.
“Michelle’s success is a positive reflection of her
talents and the superb training that she has received from our faculty,”
said Sunny E. Ohia, dean of the College of Pharmacy.
The APhA 2004 Annual Meeting & Exposition hosted nearly 6,500
pharmacists, students and technicians in their quest to learn and
advance APhA’s goal of improving medication use and advancing
patient care.
The APhA is the first and largest professional association of pharmacists
in the United States, with more than 50,000 members that include
pharmacists, scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians
and others interested in advancing the profession. The APhA-ASP
consists of more than 22,000 student members in chapters in every
school and college of pharmacy throughout the United States and
Puerto Rico.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
About the UH College of Pharmacy
For more than 50 years, the University of Houston College of Pharmacy
has shaped aspiring pharmacists, scientists and teachers. The college
offers a Pharm. D. degree, as well as a master’s in pharmacy
administration and Ph.D. in pharmaceutics and pharmacology. Accredited
by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education, it is one of
nearly 90 pharmacy colleges in the United States, with more than
45 basic science and clinical faculty, nearly 610 adjunct faculty
and preceptors and 900 current pre-pharmacy and professional students.
The college has facilities both on the UH campus and in the Texas
Medical Center. At TMC, students have the opportunity to train with
physicians, medical students and members of UH clinical faculty.
In addition to faculty and staff offices, TMC also houses research
laboratories, classrooms and the Contemporary Pharmacy Practice
Laboratory.
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