Greater Kansas City Society of Health-System Pharmacists

Home
United States
Kansas City, MO
Greater Kansas City Society of Health-System Pharmacists

GKC meets on the third Thursday of each month, January-June and August-November.

Our mission is to provide education, leadership, and advocacy to support our members in helping people make the best use of medications. Programs are held locally and ACPE approved CE is offered for qualified speakers. Programs cover a variety of topics and all focus on pharmaceutical management.

2022 Board Members
President: Bethany Baker, PharmD, MHA
President-Elect: Zachariah Gunter, PharmD
Immediate Past President: Kerra Leaderbrand, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Secretary: Nhi Lowe, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Treasurer: Christine Tafoya, PharmD, BCCCP
Programs Chair: Mackenzie Moritz, PharmD, BCPS
Programs Chair-Elect: Aly Williamson, PharmD BCPS
Membership Chair: Sarah Young, PharmD
Newsletter Editor: Lori Rio, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP
Technician Liaison: Melissa Pein

09/16/2026

👋 Meet the Executive Team!

Introducing GKCSHP Treasurer, Louis Lipari, PharmD, BCPS:

Dr. Louis Lipari is a Clinical Pharmacist III at Saint Luke’s East Hospital, now part of BJC HealthCare, in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. A Kansas City-area native, he earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Creighton University and completed his postgraduate residency training at Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City on the Plaza.

Outside of work, Louis enjoys spending time with his wife, Melinda, and their first child, whom they welcomed in August. He is an avid Kansas City sports fan and a Kansas City Chiefs season-ticket holder. He also volunteers at Holy Spirit Catholic Parish in Overland Park.

Louis looks forward to continuing his service as GKCSHP treasurer and supporting the organization’s upcoming programs and events.

09/15/2026

👋 Meet the Executive Team!

Introducing GKCSHP Secretary, Emily Mueller, PharmD:

Dr. Emily Mueller is an Inpatient Pharmacy Operations Manager for University Health Kansas City. Dr. Mueller earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Pharmacy in 2020 and completed her PGY1/2 in Health System Administration and Leadership at the University of Kansas Health System in 2022. During residency, she also earned her Master of Science in Pharmacy Practice from the University of Kansas. Dr. Mueller’s professional areas of interest include controlled substance diversion prevention, compliance, automation, and mental health and wellbeing.

09/12/2026

Week 8 of Residency Real Talk 💊

🤝 Your co-residents are teammates, not competitors.

"You do not need to one-up the people going through this year beside you."

Residency is challenging enough without turning it into a competition. Your co-residents are some of the only people who truly understand what you're experiencing—and they can become one of your greatest sources of support throughout the year. 🫶

✔️ Support each other through the hard days.
✔️ Share resources, tips, and lessons learned.
✔️ Celebrate each other's successes. 🎉
✔️ Ask for help and offer it when you can.
✔️ Don't forget to make some good memories along the way.

Someone else's success doesn't take away from your own. Learn from each other, encourage each other, and make the whole team stronger together. 🌱

✨ What's something a co-resident has done that made your residency year better? Tag them below!

09/11/2026

👋 Meet the Executive Team!

Introducing GKCSHP Immediate Past President, Tyler Whitehead, PharmD:

Dr. Tyler Whitehead is a Senior Consultant Pharmacist at HCA Healthcare and serves as Treasurer for the Missouri Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSHP). He completed his PGY2 Pharmacy Residency in Health System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership with HCA HealthTrust – MidAmerica Division in Shawnee, KS, and his PGY1 Residency at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, MO. He earned his Doctor of Pharmacy from Regis University in Denver, CO.

His professional interests include regulatory and compliance, medication safety, pharmacy advocacy, and investigational drug services, with a special interest in oncology. Outside of pharmacy, Tyler enjoys painting and spending quality time with his friends and family.

Swipe through to see highlights from his outgoing president message and reflection from his 2025-2026 term ➡

09/07/2026

Research first. Happy Hour after. 🍻

Join us after GKCSHP Resident Research Day for Happy Hour at Boulevard Brewing Company’s Beer Hall!

Come celebrate a big milestone with residents, preceptors, and pharmacists from across the Kansas City area. 🎉

📅 Friday, September 25
⏰ 5–7 PM
📍 Boulevard Brewing Beer Hall
🎟️ Residents receive one complimentary drink ticket
🥨 Light appetizers provided

Co-hosted by GKCSHP + KCHP

Whether you presented, precepted, supported a resident, or just want to connect with pharmacy colleagues—we’d love to see you there!

See you at Boulevard! 🍻

09/05/2026

Week 7 of Residency Real Talk 💊

😴 Rest is not a reward.

"You cannot do your best work if you are exhausted all the time."

Residency is demanding, and there will always be another project to work on, patient to review, or item on your to-do list. But taking care of yourself isn't something you have to earn—it's part of being able to show up and do your best work. 🌱

✔️ Prioritize sleep and regular meals.
✔️ Use your PTO—you earned it.
✔️ Make time for exercise, hobbies, and the people who matter to you.
✔️ Set boundaries when you can.
✔️ Remember to maintain a life outside of residency. 🫶

Residency is an important year, but it shouldn't become your entire life. Making time to recharge allows you to come back more focused, present, and ready to learn. 🔋

✨ What's one thing you make time for outside of residency that helps you recharge?

09/04/2026

📊 Session 4 Recap | Research Methodology Part 2
Our Pharmacy Research Certificate Series continued with Spenser January, PharmD, BCTXP, Lung Transplant Clinical Specialist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, for a practical discussion on moving from study outcomes to statistical analysis.
Key takeaways included:
➡️ Choosing outcomes that are both clinically meaningful and feasible to study
➡️ Understanding what really drives study power and sample size
➡️ Why an underpowered study can still provide useful information
➡️ Matching the statistical test to the type of data and study design
➡️ Looking beyond the p-value when interpreting results
Swipe through the recap for highlights from the presentation and discussion. 📚
Research-Informed. Practice-Driven. Patient-Focused.

09/03/2026

👋 Meet the Executive Team!

Introducing GKCSHP President-Elect, Amelia Gooch, PharmD, BCPS:

Dr. Amelia Gooch is a clinical pharmacist at Saint Luke's East Hospital (SLE) and is a Board-Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist. At SLE, she serves on the Obstetrics Evidence-Based Practice Team and Clinical Professional Practice, Quality & Education Council. She obtained her Doctor of Pharmacy at University of Missouri – Kansas City then completed her PGY1 residency at Olathe Medical Center. She previously served on the GKCSHP Board as the Membership Chair and Social Media Chair. Outside of work, Amelia enjoys reading, baking, traveling, and spending time with her loved ones.

09/01/2026

📊 Session 5 Recap | Clinical Database Management
Our Pharmacy Research Certificate Series continued with Tyler E. Barnes, PharmD, BCPS, for a practical session on clinical database management and preparing research data for analysis.
The session covered several important questions researchers face once the study design is in place:
• When should you use Microsoft Excel vs. REDCap?
• How should a research datasheet be structured?
• How can data validation prevent avoidable errors?
• How do you verify that an EMR data pull captured what you actually intended?
• What steps should happen before the dataset is ready for statistical analysis?
One recurring theme: database planning should start early. The structure and format of the data should reflect the outcomes and statistical analyses planned for the study.
Swipe through our Session 5 recap for practical tips on building, validating, cleaning, and protecting a research dataset.
Research-Informed. Practice-Driven. Patient-Focused.

08/29/2026

Week 6 of Residency Real Talk 💊

✨ Let go of perfect.

"Sometimes ‘good enough’ is the professionally responsible choice."

Residency comes with no shortage of projects, presentations, patient care responsibilities, and deadlines. Learning where to dedicate your time and when to move forward is an important skill in itself. ⏰

✔️ Avoid spending hours perfecting the wrong thing.
✔️ Seek feedback early to make sure you're headed in the right direction.
✔️ Define what a quality finished product looks like before getting lost in the details.
✔️ Know when it's time to move forward. ➡️

Striving for excellence doesn't mean everything has to be perfect. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is produce quality work, learn from the experience, and move on to what's next. 🌱

✨ What's one thing you've learned to stop overthinking during residency?

Address

Kansas City, MO
64112

Website

http://www.gkcshp.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Greater Kansas City Society of Health-System Pharmacists posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Greater Kansas City Society of Health-System Pharmacists:

Want your school to be the top-listed School/college in Kansas City?