About PSR

The Pharmacy Society of Rochester is an affiliate of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York. We represent the Pharmacists of Monroe and the five counties surrounding Monroe county including Cayuga, Livingston, Ontario, Seneca and Yates.

One of our primary objectives is to provide live continuing education programs at least 8 times per year to help our members fulfill the CE requirements for New York State and other states that they might be licensed in.

Message from the president

I guess it is indeed true that everything old is new again...Here I am, many years later, once again the President of Pharmacy Society of Rochester. For those who don’t know me, I’ll make a very brief introduction. My name is Nadia Sefein and I have been a retail pharmacist in Rochester since 1985. I graduated from SUNY Buffalo School of Pharmacy and moved immediately to Rochester to begin my career. At the time, I would have preferred to stay in Buffalo, but Rochester was in desperate need of pharmacists. It was at that time, one of the only major metropolitan areas without a pharmacy school. With the opening of the Wegman's School of Pharmacy at St. John Fisher, things in the Rochester pharmacy market have changed. Pharmacists can no longer “make a phone call” and have another job. We can no longer feel that the “grass is greener” and simply make a change. We actually have to make the best of our positions and work to the best of our ability to make pharmacy all that we originally hoped it to be when we began our careers – rewarding, stable, a good source of income and more. Not only has the marketplace changed but the challenges faced in the market have changed as well. Insurance companies dictate not only pricing but prescribing and mail order threatens our jobs – not only for independent pharmacies but also for the chains. We can no longer comfortably count on our futures being as secure as they have been in the past decades. We must actually think about, talk about and take action regarding the issues that threaten pharmacy, our career, our livelihood.

I remember when I first joined the Pharmacy Society of Rochester decades ago. I decided that I had no right to complain about issues involving pharmacy unless I did something to try to improve them. I joined the board, and was for many years the only woman on it. I watched the same dedicated group of individuals arrange programs, fight for and against legislation and work diligently to try and improve things for all pharmacists in New York State. There were grass roots movements against cuts to Medicaid and EPIC funding, the fight to allow pharmacists in New York to become immunizers, and the long standing fight against mandatory mail order pharmacy. These issues have only become more important to all pharmacists as the challenges facing our profession increase. I remember writing a paragraph entitled “Why Should I Become A Member of PSR?” when I first was President of PSR. I felt strongly that pharmacists should realize the great benefits of being part of an organization that looks out for them, that fights for them and that helps to allow them all the great benefits of our profession. The cost is so small, but the benefits are huge, and may only become greater in the future. It is for this reason that it is my honor and privilege to once again be the President of PSR.

Most Sincerely,

Nadia Safein, RPh

Pharmacy Society of Rochester