Background

The Texas Pharmacy Association Patient Counseling Competition is part of an ongoing initiative to further recognize the significant role student pharmacists play in the future of our profession and to challenge these students to perform as pharmacists are expected to do every day in more true-to-life circumstances, meeting patient needs.

Participant Selection

Regional competitions are conducted at colleges and schools of pharmacy in Texas during March and April. The top three student finalists from each school of pharmacy participate in the final competition held at the annual TPA Conference & Expo in the summer. All participant finalists names must be submitted no later than May 1 to qualify as a state finalist. Contestant names must be submitted before the end of the spring semester.

Competition

• Regional competitions at each college and school of pharmacy use the formal guidelines developed by TPA and APhA.
• The top 3 finalists from each school move up to the state finals held during the annual TPA Conference & Expo.
• At the state finals, each contestant randomly selects a time slot to determine their position in the competition.
• The cases developed each year are based on patient needs and pharmacist knowledge gaps in Texas. Contestants are given 10 minutes to prepare prior to the judging competition time slot. They will be supplied with several resources including online and printed materials for each of the products that will be used during the competition, as well as items for demonstration when appropriate.
• The contestant will have 10 minutes from the time they greet their patient to counsel the patient on their prescription(s). The counseling session will be held in front of a panel of three volunteer judges.

Judging

Judges are volunteer pharmacist members of the Texas Pharmacy Association. Each judge will be provided with the judging criteria forms and cases in advance of the the competition. The cases will also contain a short list of key counseling points to ensure consistency in judging.

Results and Prizes

Results will be tabulated by judges and Texas Pharmacy Association staff immediately after the competition. All participants will be asked to return to the competition area for announcement of results and to accept their awards. Each competitor will receive a state finalist certificate for their participation in our competition. Awards will be presented to the first, second, and third place winners in the competition. Awards will be determined jointly by TPA and support provided by sponsors.

Contact

If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Goerlitz.