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External Relations
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Individual Mobility Project The Individual Mobility Project (IMP) is one of EPSA’s most popular projects in members’ view, thanks to the unique opportunities it is bringing closer to students and recent graduates. IMP helps to set the starting point for their careers by presenting exclusive offers for internships in international companies. While other EPSA projects and activities are providing students with the necessary tools for their future professional life, IMP is providing the golden gateway they need to go through to reach their long-awaited career debut. The IMP was launched in 2008 as an official EPSA project, with the main aim of giving students and recent graduates the possibility to access paid internships in different pharmaceutical areas, otherwise unavailable or too hard to get in their own countries and based on their resources. Since then, it has been perfected with the help of devoted EPSA coordinators and added advantages have been brought to it. With every new partner collaborating for a position, the project became more and more visible and trustworthy, now counting incredible numbers when looking into its history. Up to this day, 84 placements have been provided to EPSA members in more than 25 European countries. To achieve this, EPSA has been working together with no less than 30 partners. Some of these partners only offered one-time shots, but there were others such as GSK or Fresenius Kabi who have provided EPSA’s students and recent graduates with more than 7 placements until now. In recent years, the IMP has known great recognition and this came hand in hand with increased interest from professional partners to set up new collaborations. In 2017, the project provided placements in a multitude of fields, such as pre-clinical and clinical research, regulatory affairs, market access, policy and pharmacovigilance, with no less than 11 internship calls. In 2018, 8 placements have been distributed to EPSA’s students, while in 2019, 7 internships have been successfully allocated, with the last call closing in early December. Year after year, IMP partners offered a growing range of jobs to both students and recent graduates, resulting in increasing numbers of highly motivated professionals who are responsible and ready to set new standards in the pharmaceutical industry. By following the EPSA motto of bringing pharmacy students together, IMP aims to ease the exchange of experience and culture between students and IMP trainees alike. Throughout the year, using different activities, IMP offers are shared between all EPSA members to show all the opportunities this project provides. For example, Central IMP Coordinator (CIMP) together with National IMP Coordinators (NIMPs) and recent IMP Trainees organized this year the IMP Booth during the Career Fair at the 16th EPSA Autumn Assembly in Poreč, Croatia. After extensive, captivating talks at the IMP Booth, an impressive number of participants were interested in IMP and ready to apply for the next offers. As has been also noticed by one of the participants, it is always better to try and fail rather than not trying at all. In October 2019 a pilot project was started within IMP called IMP Action Groups. Three IMP Action Groups were established: IMP Social Media and Promotion Strategies, Professional Development of the NIMPs and IMP Acquisition. The Action Groups will aim to further develop IMP and exciting new things are on the way! To know more, keep an eye on EPSA’s Social Media channels.
Era Gruda
Central IMP Coordinator 2019/2020
Oana Ciobanu
NIMP Coordinator for FASFR, Romania
Aleksandra Chlebowska
NIMP Coordinator for PPSA, Poland
