Insights from the APhA Annual Meeting 2024
Third-year student, Zoey Harris, shares the UNC Chapter’s experience at the national meeting
Story by Zoey Harris | Published March 26, 2027
This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Annual 2024 Meeting in Orlando, Florida along with my peers from our UNC APhA-ASP Chapter. The conference emphasized an inspirational theme: unleashing your potential within APhA while believing in yourself and being true to who you are! We engaged in sessions that enhanced our advocacy skills, expanded our understanding of diverse career paths in pharmacy, and strengthened bonds within our chapter and with peers nationwide.
One highlight of the conference was my opportunity to present on the successful Financial Literacy Dinner Event held in collaboration with North Star Financial Group last year. I provided a comprehensive overview and shared practical financial management tips from financial advisors. This presentation sparked interest among students from other chapters. I was happy they reached out with questions and consulted me on how to implement similar opportunities for their Chapter. From my peers, I saw the need for financial literacy in our profession, and it was reassuring to know I was helping lead a way for others across the country to address this.
Our time at the conference provided an invaluable opportunity for bonding. We, along with our Chapter Advisor Dr. Macary Marciniak, forged strong new friendships and rekindled old ones, creating a support and collaboration network that expands beyond the conference. This extended to supporting community-based program residents as we attended their presentations on outcome-based research and enhancing patient care. Experiences like this are the cornerstone of our Chapter and our school’s unity and passion.
The conference also served as a powerful platform for advocacy. Dominic Tecza, a second-year PharmD student representing our Chapter, exemplified this through his impactful amendment to a proposed resolution, which reads: “APhA-ASP supports policies within healthcare settings and legislation that increase the utilization and quality of certified medical interpreting services to improve patient care and outcomes.” This process involved his request of the rewording to the policy resolutions committee and approaching the mic to explain his reasoning for the change in words: the addition of “certified” and change from “interpretation” to “interpreting.” The argument was that we want to ensure these are certified services, and that the definition of interpretation is mostly paraphrasing, and we do not want any miscommunication or assumptions to occur in the process of translating in patient care. His passion as Chapter delegate demonstrated the power of our student voices in shaping policy and highlighted our commitment to advancing pharmacy and patient care.
Our incoming National APhA-ASP president, Miranda Montoya, delivered an inspiring speech that set the tone for the upcoming year with her guiding principle: “For Each of Us, For All of Us.” This mantra resonated with me as an advocate for wellbeing and resilience. It emphasized that we transcend our roles as students or as pharmacists. She shared an important message on the importance of teamwork without compromising our unique identities. As we reconvene in Chapel Hill and Asheville, we return grateful, invigorated, and prepared to make a meaningful impact on the community while maintaining our personal integrity and goals.