The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) student chapter at UC San Diego (AMCP-UCSD) offers professional opportunities within managed care pharmacy and aims to enhance the common academic and professional interests of chapter members.
At the beginning of January, AMCP-UCSD successfully held its 10th annual Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) competition. This year witnessed the highest level of participation since the pandemic, with an impressive 20 students forming five dedicated teams. The event stood as a testament to the dedication and skill of our student pharmacists as they delved into a challenging real-world project.
The drug of focus for this year’s competition was zavegepant (Zavzpret™) nasal spray, a calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist indicated for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults. In the weeks leading up to the competition, each team developed a drug monograph, which necessitated comprehensive literature reviews and critical analyses of the clinical and economic literature. The drug monograph provided empirical support for the team’s formulary recommendation, which they presented to a panel of judges working in the health management field on the day of the competition.
This event would not have been possible without all the help from our school’s community. Special thanks to Anthony Mba, our P&T chair, whose efforts were instrumental in setting up the competition and mentoring the competing teams. Essential to this event were the invaluable contributions of our volunteer judges, Charles Daniels, BS Pharm, Ph.D.; Eric Borrelli, Pharm.D.; Dilesh Doshi, Pharm.D.; and Kathy Nguyen, Pharm.D., who selflessly dedicated their time and expertise to evaluate participants' monographs and presentations. These seasoned professionals brought a wealth of knowledge and real-world experience to the judging panel, offering invaluable insights that will undoubtedly shape the future of our participants.
We want to extend our heartfelt congratulations to all participants for their hard work, dedication and impressive contributions. We also extend our best wishes to the winning team – Ariel Dong, Dino Le, Sunny Trieu,and Andrea Pence—as they embark on representing UC San Diego in the National P&T Competition!