Hello North Dakota! My name is Saidee Oberlander. I am an acute care pharmacist practicing at Essentia Health in Fargo and am excited to serve as NDSHP president for the 2024-2025 year. NDSHP’s mission is to “elevate health-system pharmacy practice and patient care in our region through advocacy, innovation, and member support.” As president I will work to promote these values to ensure pharmacy in North Dakota continues growing and advancing to optimize patient care. 

As a profession, pharmacy faces numerous challenges, affecting both the present and future of our practice. Pharmacy school enrollment numbers are down across the country, and our region is no exception to this trend. Efforts are in progress across the state to increase these numbers and ensure the vitality of pharmacy into the future. Health system pharmacists have a unique role to play in this effort. Not only is our goal to inspire students to pursue pharmacy as a career, but also to advocate for residency training and the pursuit of careers within health systems.NDSHP is working to promote this effort as well. At our fall Summit and Expo Meeting, we will be hosting our annual Residency Showcase, which willallow residency programs to connect with potential residents and students to learn more about the wide variety of programs available in our region. The Summit will also featurestudent programing related to career and residency preparation in collaboration with the NDSHP-SSHP chapter of NDSU. 

NDSHP continues to promote continuing education and lifelong learning for members throughout the year. The annual fall Summit and Expo remains our flagship event for connection and collaboration across the state. I am excited to meet and reconnect with you all October 24-25 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fargo.  

Our educational and collaborative efforts do not stop with this one event, however. Every other month, NDSHP provides CE for members highlighting a variety of acute and ambulatory care topics. Alternating months feature Journal Club presentations to help keep members up to date on the latest literature. Check out the Events page on our website for information about all upcoming networking and education sessions and register in advance to obtain CE credit. 

We are also excited to have continued our ASHP Certificate Program for the 2024-2025 year. This program allows NDSHP member pharmacists to receive reimbursement for their completion of an ASHP certification in an area of their choosing. We had many members apply for a wide variety of certifications, including anticoagulation, medication safety, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and opioid stewardship. Watch your emails this fall for information regarding application for the next certification cycle.  

Collaboration remains a huge priority for NDSHP at all levels. Every month, we host networking meetings that rotate among Acute Care, Pediatric, and Pharmacy Operations and Leadership. All NDSHP members are welcome to attend to share and collaborate with their peers across the state. The past year has facilitated great discussion among these groups. New and novel ideas are always encouraged, even non-clinical topics! Please reach out to an NDSHP board member or networking meeting facilitator if you have ideas for future topics or discussions. Also look out for more information from NDSHP for other opportunities to get involved in promoting pharmacy across the state.  

Katrina Rehak, PharmD (Past-President); Katie Evans, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP (President-Elect); Adwoa Adjekum, PharmD(Treasurer); Maari Loy , PharmD, BCPS, FASHP, MBA (Member-at-Large); and I are excited to serve you this year. We look forward to another great year of promoting and advancing pharmacy practice across North Dakota.  

Sincerely,  

Saidee Oberlander, PharmD, BCPS 

NDSHP President