Issues important to pharmacists range from new drugs available on the market to upcoming state laws that affect this group of professionals—whether they're working in a hospital, nursing home, or retail outlet.

Pharmacists based in Spokane have had the Spokane Pharmacy Association backing them in understanding all types of health- and industry-related issues since 1921, when the group formed. Today, the 199-member association continues to promote pharmacists' continuing education, sponsor pharmacy student scholarships, and offer a platform for networking.

The group's board meets monthly at the Frankie Doodle's restaurant in downtown Spokane, a longtime tradition. Additionally, the upcoming consolidation of the Washington State University College of Pharmacy's programs to Spokane's Riverpoint Campus by 2014 is expected to further boost the group, which maintains a close relationship with WSU pharmacy students and professors.

"It's a great way to stay connected with colleagues," says Brenda Bray, an association board member and Spokane-based clinical associate professor with WSU's College of Pharmacy. "Two of our top priorities are education and professional development of our members."

Adds Michael Glockling, another board member, "It is really the local organization of pharmacists, and we cater to pharmacists who work in virtually any work environment—be it retail, hospital, an alternative site, faculty or the academic environment."

Glockling is a pharmacist for Integrated Health Professionals Inc., a Spokane Valley-based home-health venture, and he says the pharmacy group holds continuing-education programs each month during the academic year on such topics as disease updates, new treatments, and legislative issues.

Washington state requires practicing pharmacists to receive 15 hours of continuing education annually to remain licensed, and the association's monthly CE sessions often have speakers who are WSU College of Pharmacy professors.

Pharmacy students are encouraged to join the Spokane association as a way to network and hear the educational programs. Two student representatives serve on its board. Each year, the association also supports a group of pharmacy students who spend a day talking to state legislators about industry issues.

The nonprofit association is supported through membership fees for a calendar-year term. Its levels for annual dues include $50 for a practicing pharmacist, $25 for a pharmacy technician, $20 for a pharmacy student, and $10 for a pharmacy technician student. The dues pay for a newsletter, fax updates, and the continuing-education programs. The member fees help support scholarships, which also are funded by donations and a silent auction fundraiser.

Going forward, the group is working to offer scholarships through an endowed scholarship program called the Spokane Pharmacy Association Marguerite Villars Scholarship for WSU College of Pharmacy students, Bray says. WSU will administer and invest the scholarship fund to ensure that a stable amount is available annually into the future.

Long-time board secretary Marguerite Villars, who began the group's scholarship program and still attends meetings as an honorary lifetime member, was one of Spokane's first female pharmacists.

The association's president, Heather McNamee, says the group will continue to offer a separate annual scholarship for pharmacy technicians, which will be funded in part from dues. The group also holds an annual awards banquet and a silent auction that draws scholarship funding, she says.

McNamee, who is a pharmacist with Community Health Association of Spokane, says Spokane's pharmacy association started simply as a way to bring Spokane professionals together and offer education.

Over the years, McNamee says that the group has kept fairly steady membership numbers, with slight declines similar to what other professional associations have experienced in recent years.

The group for several years offered students free membership, but more recently had to begin charging them a reduced rate, she says, so that segment of members declined somewhat. However, she adds that because of strong student representation on the board currently, more WSU Spokane students are engaged in the group's activities this year.

By 2014, WSU plans to consolidate the teaching and research arms of the pharmacy college at the Spokane campus after completion of the $78 million WSU Biomedical and Health Sciences Building now under construction. Currently, students in the four-year Doctor of Pharmacy degree program attend the first two years in Pullman, and remaining time at WSU-Spokane.

Once the move is done, students will complete the first three years of the program in Spokane. The fourth year involves advanced experiential training, and students will be assigned to locations for rotations in Spokane, Yakima, Vancouver, Tri-Cities, Tacoma, or Pullman, WSU's website says.

Michael Brandt, a pharmacist at Kootenai Medical Center who specializes in the pharmaceutical care of oncology patients and also is a WSU adjunct professor, says there's a symbiotic relationship between WSU and the pharmacy association. A Spokane resident, Brandt has been involved with the association for about 20 years, including as its immediate past president.

"Having the academic connection gives us access to the students and to the facilities, and it provides us with several of the professors who do continuing-education programs," Brandt says. "For WSU, it benefits them. One of the requirements for professors is outreach, so we provide that venue. One of the other benefits is the networking."

He adds, "There is excitement about the College of Pharmacy coming here in full."

Bray agrees that the members often can tap into a wealth of information from faculty expertise.

"We have experts in diabetes, for example, so they'd come and talk to us about research or trials, and current trends and treatment of diabetes," she says. "Another one of our faculty members is an expert in geriatrics. He'd give a talk about medication therapy for the elderly and the challenges."

Steve Webbenhurst, a pharmacist who works for Walgreens inside the Rockwood Clinic at 400 E. Fifth, says the association does a good job keeping members informed, including about issues and news in the industry. He also serves on the association's board.

"We're the best way to get out the news and information about what's going on with pharmacy both at the state and local level," Webbenhurst says. "Many of our members belong to the local level, but not the state (pharmacy) association, so we're the people who disseminate that information out. It's a mixture of all the different facets of pharmacy professionals we reach—technicians, long-term care, hospitals, and community pharmacists, those working at a chain or independent pharmacies."

He says that the group also has members who work for drug companies. "They're the reps who go see both doctors and pharmacies about new drugs. We sometimes have a presentation about a new drug, and they have come out to talk."

Those presentations aren't held for continuing education credit, but rather for informative presentations.

Association members who were interviewed say there is a strong camaraderie among pharmacists here.

"Pharmacy is a very close-knit group of professionals, and it's very normal to know many other pharmacists in our city," Glockling says. "Part of it is because of the Spokane Pharmacy Association, but also because there is a closeness that exists within the profession. In this day and age, trade organizations have struggled more and more. I think we all have less disposable income."

However, he adds that the association has remained fairly strong even in recession years.

The group also is energized by the number of responses it received from a January survey of members, McNamee says.

"We had 28 topic requests for continuing education," she adds. "Some of them were for how different health care systems work within our community, and topics about asthma, depression, mental health, and legislative updates."