Pharmacy Lobby Day 2022

In 2020, like so many other things, Pharmacy Lobby Day was cancelled. In 2021, it was back but virtually. It gave students an opportunity to participate without making the trek to the Capital. But last month, Pharmacy Lobby Day was back to, more or less, business as usual.

For Kelly Bach ’13, Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, this was not her first experience with the event. As a student, she’d participated in lobby day and knows how valuable the experience can be for students. So, when she stepped into the role of faculty advisor of SPSSNY in 2017, she wanted to see how they could become more involved.

While PSSNY takes the lead for all the colleges and universities across NY State, it’s up to Kelly and her students to rally interest among the student body. Planning begins in January and then the students organize a leg day rally a week before lobby day. They invite a guest speaker to campus to get the students interested and educated.

This year issues include ordering and administering CLIA waived testing, administering long-acting injectables to treat mental health and substance use disorder, and offer comprehensive medication management. The students and faculty facilitators met with one senator and five assembly members. 

“My favorite thing of pharmacy lobby day is having the students share their personal stories with legislators highlighting the importance and value of pharmacists,” Bach said.