KU News Release

KU pharmacy seniors place in top 10 at national clinical skills competition

LAWRENCE — Two pharmacy students at the University of Kansas recently placed in the top 10 at a national competition testing their clinical skills in providing high-quality patient care.

Paola Jasmin Ponce of Ulysses and Jill Susanne Sowers of Goodland, both sixth-year students in KU’s professional pharmacy program, were among 86 two-person teams from schools across the nation qualifying for the 11th annual national clinical skills competition at the midyear meeting of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, which was held Dec. 3-7 in Anaheim, Calif.

The KU students were among the 10 final teams selected to make case presentations to the judges.

Michael Oszko, associate professor of pharmacy at the KU Medical Center and faculty adviser for the KU student chapter of the pharmacy society, said Ponce and Sowers qualified for the national competition as winners of the local preliminary competition at KU’s School of Pharmacy last fall.

“Team members are presented with a complicated case typical of a patient case that hospital pharmacists would encounter,” Oszko said.

The test case is designed not only to be typical of the kinds of complicated cases a hospital pharmacist encounters but also to test the students’ ability to handle therapy issues in health care. Students analyze the patient case, assess the patient’s medical history and identify drug therapy problems and treatment goals. Finally, each team prepares a pharmacist’s care plan that includes monitoring variables and desired outcomes for the patient.

For the preliminary competition, each team presented its written plan to a panel of judges. In the national event, only the 10 highest-scoring teams are selected to make five-minute presentations to the judges. The judges in turn follow each presentation with intense questioning of the student pharmacists.

The Medical University of South Carolina took the first-place prize of $500 for each team member and trophies.

The other finalists received American Society of Health-System Pharmacists products, including a $100 gift certificate that can be used for membership dues.

KU’s doctor of pharmacy, or PharmD, is a six-year program that leads to a professional-level degree, similar to a law or medical degree.

GRANT COUNTY
From Ulysses
Paola Jasmin Ponce is the daughter of Agustin and Alicia Galaviz and a Ulysses High School graduate.

SHERMAN COUNTY
From Goodland
Jill Susanne Sowers is the daughter of Rue and Marilyn Sowers and a Goodland High School graduate.

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