WSU chapter of Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy to host local P&T competition

By WSU Applebaum Student Pharmacist Fadi Manuel

AMCP students
AMCP President-Elect Jackie Fleury, President Joseph Paul Javier and Professional Education Co-Director Johnie Bailey

The Wayne State University student chapter of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) achieved an outstanding second-place finish at the 21st Annual AMCP National Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Competition last April. Now, the group is excited to host a local P&T competition at Wayne State from November 2021 through January 2022.

The AMCP P&T competition is a team event designed to provide an immersive experience in the skills necessary for effective formulary review and management. Last year’s team members shared their thoughts about the P&T competition and how they benefited from the experience. 

“The most valuable skills I learned from the P&T competition were being able to clinically evaluate literature, as well as, evaluating the financial impact of incorporating a drug into a drug formulary of an insurance plan, and learning about how managed care pharmacists' function to create formularies,” said Rachel Christensen, a current P4 LAPP student at Beaumont Hospital with interests in ambulatory care, oncology and transplant.

“I really enjoyed challenging myself in entering an unfamiliar part of pharmacy and working with my teammates to put together a great project. Being recognized as a ‘Cinderella story’ due to making it to the finals in our first year of competing was a great feeling for the team and a great steppingstone for the chapter,” said Hussein Safaoui, a current P4 who is planning to pursue a career in regulatory affairs after graduation.

The WSU team competed against 63 other teams and made the top three of the competition alongside the University of Michigan, whose team finished third in the competition. The University of Southern California was the competition winner.

“The P&T competition allows students to gain experience that can’t easily be found in the classroom but experiences that happen quite often in real-world pharmacy practice. Regardless of the field of pharmacy you enter, P&T committees are an integral part of how pharmacy functions so to be able to get a strong understanding of that during school will set you up with a strong foundation moving forward in your career,” said Shivan Patel, a current fellow at Sanofi.

The AMCP chapter will hold an informational meeting at the end of September to provide students with more information about the requirements of the competition. Reach out to the current AMCP President Joseph Paul Javier or competition coordinator Fadi Manuel for questions regarding the competition.

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