As President of the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP), I represented the organization at the Western Branches Banff Seminar this past March. I attended my first Banff Seminar exactly 30 years earlier, as ayoung, impressionable resident. I don't remember much of that first conference, but I do remember one specific presentation and its impact on my practice. The presentation was about communicating with other health care professionals, physicians in particular. I've never regretted the choice I made at that time to incorporate into my daily practice the take-home message of the value of open, cross-professional communication. Fast forward 30 years and a panel discussion on the patient care experience. The two speakers on the panel, a patient care advocate and a hospital pharmacist, spoke with eloquence and passion about their personal experiences within the health care system and the role of the pharmacist. The impact of the presentation lay in its simple message: how we as pharmacists choose to communicate (or not communicate) with a patient affects the patient's journey through our complicated health care system.
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