March 16, 2016
Dear ,

January and February flew by and suddenly March has arrived. In the Okanagan, where I live, the snow is creeping up to the tops of the mountains and the valley is starting to look like spring is just around the corner. Every sunny day that we have here is pounced on by the locals as positive reinforcement that surely our warm sunny Okanagan weather is on its way!

The CAPhO Executive met together in Calgary back in January, and had an excellent strategic planning session. We managed to establish some strategic goals that should carry us through the next five years. Since our planning session, the CAPhO Executive has been working on determining the objectives for the strategic goals.
 
This is the time of year when the Awards Committee is busy reviewing the award nominations and travel grant applications. Thank you to everyone who nominated a deserving CAPhO member and congratulations to those who won an award or received a travel grant. Remember that you can still apply for a MASCC Symposium Travel Grant and Wild Card Travel Grant. Please look at the cut-off dates and submit the necessary paperwork accordingly. 

The Education Committee has been working hard to revise the Oncology Basics module. The module is in the process of being accredited and should be posted on the CAPhO website any day now.

You may have noticed that there is now a CAPhO weekly newsletter that comes to you thanks to the hard work of the Sea to Sky staff together with the Communications Committee. The Communications Committee has also been busy Tweeting, Face Booking (is that a verb?) and spreading the latest news about oncology pharmacy and CAPhO.

The CAPhO Conference is going to take place in about 4 weeks from now, from April 15 - 17, 2016. The Conference Committee has created a first-rate program centered on this year's Conference theme - Can we talk? This year will be the inaugural presentation of the FCAPhO designation to some very deserving oncology practitioners. We are also going to be celebrating CAPhO's 20th year anniversary. We have some new twists and surprises to unveil at the Conference this year as well - so come to the CAPhO Conference to further your education, network with colleagues and celebrate with us!

Remember to renew your current CAPhO membership before Thursday, March 31. I also encourage you to urge your co-workers to join CAPhO. CAPhO members have access to an excellent annual oncology pharmacy conference and ongoing opportunities to network with colleagues from across Canada. You are CAPhO's best membership recruiters.

Hope to see you in Niagara Falls!

Sincerely, 
Joan Fabbro, President
president@capho.org
Announcing the Membership, Communications and Research Chairs

We are pleased to announce that CAPhO has three new Executive Committee Members who will start their terms at the Annual General Meeting occurring at the CAPhO Conference on Saturday, April 16, 2016. 

Membership Chair: Adam Gordon, BSc. Pharm
Pharmacist I, Jack Ady Cancer Centre Pharmacy, Lethbridge, Alberta

Communications Chair: Soha Ahrari, BSc, BScPhm, MSc(c), RPh
Odette Cancer Centre - Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Research Chair: Tom McFarlane, BScPhm, RPh, PharmD 
Clinical Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, University of Waterloo, Kitchener, Ontario

Membership Chair: Adam Gordon
Communications
 Chair: Soha Ahrari
Research Chair: Tom McFarlane










After the CAPhO Conference, you will be able to contact the new Chairs using their position emails: membership@capho.org, communications@capho.org and research@capho.org.

Other changes to the Executive Committee at the AGM include:
  • Joan Fabbro will be moving into the Past President position 
  • Mark Pasetka will be moving into the President position 
  • Philip Shaheen will become the President-Elect 
And I will be 'retiring' from the Executive Committee as my term as Past President concludes. My CAPhO journey has been an amazing experience. It has been so rewarding to work with such a hardworking and dedicated Executive Committee. I have also enjoyed connecting with so many of our members and appreciate the diversity of the work that you do and will always remember how passionate all CAPhO members are when it comes to excellence in patient care. With your continued support, I know that CAPhO can continue to advocate for our members and our patients. 

Thank you for an amazing 6 years!

Jennifer Jupp,
Past President
 
Education Technician Committee Update

A big thank you goes out to all of the members who took the time to respond to the 2015 CAPhO Membership Survey. The CAPhO Executive met in January to review your comments and to set priorities that align with the goals of our membership. The information you provided is being used to shape the direction of CAPhO over the next five years. We heard that our members believe that CAPhO is instrumental in shaping the future of the Oncology Pharmacy community, and we will do our best to rise to the challenge.

Our pharmacy technician and pharmacy assistant members expressed the desire to have up-to-date educational material about standards for training, testing, and regulation, as well as hazardous drug safe handling. Standards documents from organizations such as USP, CSHP and NAPRA are being revised and released at an accelerated pace. The information provided in these documents is valuable to practice, but may be challenging to keep up with, given the hectic reality of today's workplaces. The Education Pharmacy Technician Assistant Committee has met to discuss how to collate the information that is most pertinent to oncology practice and practitioners, and how to deliver it to our members in a web-based learning module. There has also been an interest expressed in updating the CAPhO Standards of Practice. So much has changed since its release in 2009, and we agree that the Standards require updating. Discussion about the best way to accomplish this is underway.

We are listening to our members and encourage your suggestions on an ongoing basis. Please take the time to visit our Town Hall meeting at CAPhO Conference 2016 in Niagara Falls and share your ideas for CAPhO. Not attending this year? Send an email to any member of the Executive Committee or contact me directly. We will be pleased to hear from you.

Colleen Thurber
Education Technician Committee Chair
Educationtechandassistant@capho.org

 
Membership Committee Update

What has your CAPhO Membership Committee been up to recently?

This past year has been a bit of a "clean up" one for the Membership Committee. Activities have included items such as reviewing our membership categories and fees, specifically related to the Corporate and Student membership categories - watch for the details around these changes that will be distributed as part of the proposed bylaw updates to be approved at the AGM in Niagara Falls. 

The Committee is pleased to announce that we have nominated three individuals to receive Honorary Life Memberships. These Honorary Life Memberships will officially be presented at the CAPhO Conference and we hope many members will be present to share in the celebration of the achievements and contributions of these oncology pharmacy practitioners! 
 
The CAPhO Executive has been busy with strategic planning this year and an important component of this was a survey of the members. Results of the membership survey will guide the work going forward for the Membership Committee with a focus on delivering value through the continual assessment, understanding and response to members' needs. If you have ideas or want to get involved in this work, please contact any member of the Executive Committee or contact me directly. Remember, this is YOUR organization!

Roxanne Dobish
Membership Committee Chair
membership@capho.org
Calling all pharmacists who provide patient education to oncology patients: residency project

CAPhO has received a request for your participation in the following Residency Project Survey:

Optimizing patient education of oncology medication: A descriptive survey of pharmacist provided patient education in Canada. 

Research question: What are the different models of patient education of oncology medications delivered by pharmacists who provide patient education to adult oncology patients in a hospital or cancer centre in Canada?

You can participate in this survey if you are a pharmacist who provides patient education to adult oncology patients in a hospital or cancer centre in Canada. 

Please submit the 20 minute survey by April 4, 2016

Contacts:
Gillian Donald, current pharmacy resident, principal investigator
Gillian.Donald@nshealth.ca
Samantha Scott, supervising investigator
SamanthaN.Scott@nshealth.ca
Larry Broadfield, sub-investigator
Larry.Broadfield@ccns.nshealth.ca

 
Executive Committee

Below is a list of Executive Committee members. To join a committee, visit the Committees and Taskforces page for Chair contact details. To find out how to be part of the Executive Committee email services@capho.org.

President: Joan Fabbro
Past President: Jennifer Jupp
President-Elect: Mark Pasetka
Treasurer: Esther Jadusingh
Awards Committee Chair: Coleen Schroeder
Communications Committee Chair: Christopher Ralph
Education Committee Chair Pharmacist: Tara Leslie
Education Committee Chair Technician / Pharmacy Assistant: Colleen Thurber
Membership Committee Chair: Roxanne Dobish
Research Committee Chair: Biljana Spirovski

 
CAPhO's Association and Conference Management Office

Sea to Sky Meeting Management is CAPhO's Association and Conference Management Office. If you have any questions about membership, services, the CAPhO Conference, or the Association, contact the CAPhO Office directly as follows:

Email: info@capho.org
Direct: 778-338-4142
Fax: 604-984-6434

Suite 206, 201 Bewicke Avenue
North Vancouver, BC Canada V7M 3M7
www.seatoskymeetings.com
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