Thank you to everyone who traveled to Baltimore for APhA2016! This year’s Annual Meeting was something really special. We had a great turnout, outstanding programming, and over-the-top advocacy!   

In my role at APhA, I often get to connect with our speakers. Both of our general session speakers, Rajiv Shah, MD, and Abraham Verghese, MD, generated a real buzz around the need for our human connections with patients. I lost track of the positive comments from our members who attended the sessions. Most members thought the speakers were spot on in that touch is at the heart of the patient–provider relationship. 

When you think about it, we have caused and witnessed a tectonic shift in public perceptions of pharmacists when 20 years ago we began providing immunizations. Today, 280,000 pharmacists touch patients every time we immunize. Now that we’ve set the public up to see us as caregivers, we’re also building relationships with our patients in order to provide the best care possible, and the conversations have changed about our need to be on the team.

Thank you again to everyone who attended APhA2016 and made it such a success! I look forward to seeing you next year at APhA2017 in San Francisco!

For those of you who couldn’t make it to Baltimore, check out APhA’s Video On Demand. Twelve of our most popular education sessions from APhA2016 were video recorded and will be available next month for home study continuing education credit. Visit http://aphameeting.pharmacist.com/apha2016/meeting-highlights-video-demand-0 for more information.