Making the most of a professional meeting.

The Director's Forum series is designed to guide pharmacy leaders in establishing patient-centered services in hospitals and health systems. During the early winter months, pharmacists will converge upon a major city and participate in the Midyear Clinical Meeting ("Midyear") of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. This meeting involves almost 21,000 students, residents, and new and seasoned professionals catching up with colleagues and classmates, networking for better practice solutions, and presenting their organization's successes. In this era of fiscal restraint, many hospitals are reducing travel expenses and limiting the participation of their staff in professional meetings. In the past, professional meetings may have been seen as a boondoggle, but they can benefit individuals at all stages of their career (student, mid-level, and late careers). Students can make vital career decisions through information received at professional meetings, mid-level career individuals will gain valuable ideas for practice model enhancement, and late career individuals can provide mentoring for younger and mid-level career professionals. If properly managed, attendance at a professional meeting can have very positive benefits on the career growth of pharmacy staff and help in the pharmacy department's development of effective patient-centered services.