Question 1

What is ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and who should attend?

Accepted Answer

ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition is the world's largest pharmacy meeting, organised annually by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. It attracts over 25,000 pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy students, and residents from across the US and internationally. The five-day event includes clinical education sessions across all practice areas, live residency recruitment (Personnel Placement Service — PPS), drug policy and advocacy sessions, industry exhibits, and hundreds of poster presentations. It is the premier networking and recruitment event for pharmacy residency candidates and pharmacy program directors in the US. Health-system pharmacists, clinical specialists, pharmacy residents, pharmacy students, and pharmacy educators all attend. The meeting spans acute care, ambulatory care, oncology, infectious diseases, critical care, and pharmacy informatics.

Question 2

What is the ASHP Personnel Placement Service (PPS) and how does pharmacy residency recruitment work?

Accepted Answer

The Personnel Placement Service (PPS) at ASHP Midyear is the primary venue for pharmacy residency recruitment in the United States. PGY1 (first-year) and PGY2 (second-year specialty) residency programs set up recruitment booths where candidates can meet program directors and current residents. The residency match process operates through the National Matching Services (NMS) Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service (PhORCAS), with the final match determined by National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) algorithms on Match Day in March. PPS attendance at Midyear is not mandatory but is highly recommended — candidates meeting 10–20 programs at PPS significantly improves match rate. The meeting falls in December, with applications due via PhORCAS in late December/early January and interviews in January–February before the Match in March.

Question 3

What clinical pharmacology and PK/TDM topics are typically covered at ASHP Midyear?

Accepted Answer

ASHP Midyear consistently covers pharmacokinetics, therapeutic drug monitoring, and precision dosing through dedicated clinical sessions and symposia. Typical topics include: Bayesian model-informed precision dosing (MIPD) for vancomycin — following the ASHP/SIDP/SCCM vancomycin consensus guidelines transition from AUC/MIC to AUC-guided monitoring; extended-interval aminoglycoside dosing (PK/PD rationale, post-antibiotic effect, Hartford nomogram); antifungal TDM (voriconazole, posaconazole, itraconazole and saturable kinetics); pharmacogenomics in health systems (CYP2D6/2C19 pre-emptive testing programs, CPIC guidelines implementation); and drug dosing in special populations including obesity, CKD, and critical illness with augmented renal clearance.

Question 4

What drug policy and antimicrobial stewardship content does ASHP Midyear include?

Accepted Answer

ASHP Midyear has dedicated drug policy and regulatory sessions covering FDA new drug approvals, biosimilar policy, 340B program developments, formulary management, and antimicrobial stewardship. Antimicrobial stewardship (ASP) content includes: pharmacy-led ASP program models (restriction, pre-authorisation, prospective audit and feedback), beta-lactam allergy assessment and delabelling programmes, PK/PD-guided antibiotic dosing optimisation, and antimicrobial resistance management strategies. The ASHP Intersocietal Position Statement on ASP (jointly with SIDP and SHEA) provides the clinical framework discussed at the meeting. Emerging resistance mechanisms including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and novel beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations (ceftazidime-avibactam, meropenem-vaborbactam) are regularly covered.

Question 5

How does ASHP Midyear 2027 differ from ASHP Summer Meetings?

Accepted Answer

ASHP Midyear and ASHP Summer serve distinct purposes. ASHP Midyear (December, ~25,000 attendees) is the larger meeting focused on clinical education, pharmacy residency recruitment (PPS), therapeutics, and exhibits — it is clinically and career-focused. ASHP Summer (June, ~3,000–5,000 attendees) is primarily a governance meeting focused on the ASHP House of Delegates policy debates, smaller clinical workshops, ambulatory care pharmacy, and drug policy — it is governance and policy-focused. PharmD candidates and residents primarily target Midyear for recruitment; established practitioners or those involved in ASHP governance attend Summer. For clinical PK/TDM pharmacists, Midyear is the primary ASHP meeting, while specialty societies such as ACCP, SIDP, and Society of Critical Care Pharmacists provide focused PK/TDM content at their own conferences.

ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition 2027

About ASHP Midyear 2027

2027 Programme Highlights

Vancomycin AUC-Guided Dosing

Extended-Interval Aminoglycosides

Pharmacogenomics Implementation

Antimicrobial Stewardship

Drug Dosing in Obesity

AI and Clinical Decision Support

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