Failing to plan is planning to fail.
- Alan Lakein

Fall is my favorite season.  Many people love the new hope that Spring brings, many people love the sun worshiping that comes with summer fun, but fall brings us comfortable weather, the start of football, baseball playoffs, festivals of endless variety, and more activities than most of us can usually attend.  With that in mind I want to discuss with you my fall tenet, Plan Ahead.  I have two children, both of whom are involved in many activities.  These activities require specific dress and equipment.  Whether it is a soccer ball and shin guards for soccer, baseball bat, hat and glove for baseball, or a favorite leotard for gymnastics, there is always a flurry of activity, stress, and sometimes tears in the moments immediately preceding the predetermined time to leave for practice as these items are nowhere to be found. This drives me nuts!  I try to encourage them to think about their day and prepare first, so they can be successful later.  Lay your equipment out as soon as you get home from school so you don’t have to scramble to find it, stress out, and be late.

At MSHP we are hard at work planning for the future of pharmacy within our state.  As I write this, I have just returned from the MPA/MSHP joint meeting in Branson.  The meeting was a success and the Education and Planning Committee is already discussing and planning on how we can make the joint meeting better for everyone next fall.  We are also planning for the annual Missouri reception at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting.  This year’s reception is scheduled to be held on Monday December 3^rd 2018 at the Anaheim Marriott, with a time and room location to be assigned in the near future.  I want to give a special thank you to UMKC and StLCOP for their financial support of this annual event.  We are working with various groups, MPA and MHA in particular, to further enhance technician roles and capabilities within our state.  We are also striving for mid-level practitioner status, which will allow more direct patient care opportunities for pharmacists and ultimately wonderful care for our patients.  We are also planning for a new group within our society, we are taking our existing Resident Workgroup and turning it into a New Practitioner Workgroup.  This new group has been charged with creating technician centered continuing education, as the Resident Workgroup has in the past.  It will also be the driver of content for our new e-mail list serve for new practitioners, which will be a membership status that is specific for MSHP members who are within five years of graduation.  Lastly, we are busy planning our Annual Meeting to be held this March in conjunction with ICHP in Collinsville, IL, on March 29^th and 30^th, 2019.  I hope to see you all there in the spring.

As the weather cools, please know that the MSHP Board and I are hard at work planning wonderful events and practice advancement opportunities for you, our membership.   We hope that these pay off in the near and distant future as much as knowing where you left your cleats the last time you got home from a game.    Have a great fall and I hope to see many of you in December at the Missouri Reception.  Enjoy all things Pumpkin Spice!

Respectfully

Tony Huke, Pharm.D., BCPS
MSHP President