If you had asked me to join the Texas Pharmacy Association during pharmacy school, I would have replied, “TPA? What’s that?”

When I realized right before starting my P4 year that there was an entire state association dedicated to pharmacy and that it was offered as an elective rotation, I knew it was going to be great experience and something very different than my other rotations.

During the first couple weeks of my TPA rotation I dove right into helping with the 2022 TPA Conference and Expo. After long hours in the office helping the TPA staff organize everything and put all the little details together, it was truly amazing seeing the whole conference come together in mid-July at the Hyatt Regency in Austin.

Seeing pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians come together from Texas (or even out of state) to show support for the pharmacy profession was really awesome, and it made me love pharmacy a little more than I already did.

In addition to the Conference and Expo, I was invited to sit in on board meetings and legislative hearings with my preceptor, TPA CEO Debbie Garza. That’s when it really sunk in that I had chosen a very informative elective. Getting to see behind the scenes in pharmacy was really eye opening and made me realize the amount of work that we don’t see happening in our pharmacy world when we are behind the counters. Being so accustomed to science-based courses, I didn’t think much about the government affairs side of pharmacy. Now I realize how important it is to this profession.

This rotation was both rewarding and challenging at the same time. Getting exposure to different pharmacy settings was my goal for my P4 rotations. This rotation gave me the exposure I was looking for, and more! I walked away from this rotation having gained so much knowledge about what the Texas Pharmacy Association does and what it stands for.

The experiences I had were so unique, and getting to work alongside Debbie was such a privilege. One of the main things that she talks about that has stuck with me is the need for pharmacists to unify as one and show up for the pharmacy profession. TPA sheds light on current events that happen behind the scenes in pharmacy, and there’s no better way to unify everyone and receive relevant news that applies to our profession than to be involved with the Association.

Kobeissi completed a six-week rotation with the Texas Pharmacy Association during the summer of 2022.