Seven pharmacy students, faculty and alumni from Washington State University won annual awards from the Spokane Pharmacy Association (SPA) recently. The awards were presented at the SPA annual awards banquet Tuesday, November 11, at the Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane.
The SPA accepts nominations for all award categories from the local community, and then the board of directors meets to determine winners based off of the nominations.
- Bert Porter, WSU College of Pharmacy alumni class of 1950, Lifetime Service Award.
Porter graduated from the WSU pharmacy program in 1950 and in 1958 opened his own pharmacy in Spokane and retired in 1993. He was on the SPA board of directors for many years and served as president for both SPA and the Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA). - Bill and Sharon Fassett, Special Services Award.
Sharon was the SPA administrator, and Bill served as the executive vice president. Bill also provided the legal, logistic and ethical guidance to the SPA board. Bill retired from the WSU College of Pharmacy this May after 15 years of service. - Alyson Blum, research associate and first-year pharmacy resident in obstetrics, Resident of the Year.
Blum is the first post-graduate pharmacy resident with an emphasis on obstetrics. Blum is working with the maternal-fetal medicine specialists at Providence Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. - Colleen Terriff, clinical associate professor, Speaker of the Year.
Terriff provides numerous in-service trainings and presentations to health care professionals and first responders around Spokane in the areas of HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases, emergency preparedness and the role of the pharmacist in the public health response team. - Catrina Schwartz, clinical associate professor, and Shon Volk, alumni class of 2007, Pharmacists of the Year.
Schwartz and Volk were nominated for this award separately and as a team for their innovative work around strep throat testing and treatment in a community pharmacy setting. In 2013, in collaboration with a local physician, pharmacists at eight Sav-On Albertsons pharmacies in Spokane area began testing for and treating Strep throat, all thanks to the work of Catrina and Shon. - Tick Klock Drugs in Colfax, Wash., owned by Mark Johnson, alumni class of 1982, Pharmacy of the Year.
[Nov. 18, 2014] Lori J. Maricle