External Representations

POLITICO’s EU Studies and Career Fair, 21-22 February 2020

During the EU Studies and Career Fair, EPSA had a chance to connect with the international students community and young professionals as well as exhibitors from various institutions. The two days event consisted of many interactive sessions including seminars about Erasmus, career development workshops and activities dedicated to empowering tomorrow’s European leaders. We had a chance to talk with our colleagues from AIESEC, get to know more about Erasmus+ and hear first hand testimonials from Trainees working in the European institutions. It’s an amazing opportunity for EPSA to be based in Brussels where all those initiatives are started so we can also engage and bring ideas further to EPSA members!

ESN EPSA Position Paper launch, Wednesday, 26 February, 2020

Student Mobility barriers for regulated professionals are not as well-known and identified yet as they should be. Degrees for regulated professions face a wide range of difficulties in regards to learning mobility, with an emphasis on the recognition of studies abroad. The survey Obstacles in Student Mobility developed by the EPSA and ESN showcased how pharmaceutical students struggle when trying to access Erasmus+. During the day of the launch of the document EPSA presented survey data to representatives of the European Commission and various University Networks. Besides, during the launch event, EPSA representatives talked about the experiences European pharmaceutical students faced on a personal level to bring more understanding to the stakeholders and decision makers.

Map of Europe

XIX APEF Educational Forum - The 19th edition of the APEF Educational Forum focused on the “Evidence in Health for the Community ”. In the plenary sessions, different perspectives were addressed by great names of the various pharmacy fields. After, our students were divided by discussion groups to debate and share their opinions. It was a fruitful event with an amazing exchange of knowledge between professionals and students. APEF, Portugal In these challenging times, asep is doing everything to support pharmacies in need. In collaboration with young pharmacists’ organisations, we’ve established an online platform (pharmadelivery.ch) where students, who are willing to volunteer, can register. Volunteers help deliver medication to vulnerable patients, support in manufacturing or patient counseling. asep, Switzerland

During our semester break AFÖP organized a campaign with 300 high schoolers, aged 14 to 16. Together with our professor and a juvenile judge, we warned them about the danger of drugs, not only illegal ones but also alcohol and nicotine. Since it was well received, we are already planning to do it again. AFÖP, Austria

To face the health crisis we are going through, ANEPF, France in collaboration with the National Council of the Order of Pharmacists, has set in place the Pharm’Help website (http://pharmhelp.anepf.org/). This website connects pharmacies in need with volunteer pharmacy students throughout the country. The site works very well, it’s a success! By mid-April, more than 160 offers had been published and many students were mobilized to respond to calls from pharmacies. ANEPF, France As being CIUPSA,on 3rd March we organized a conference which intends creating awareness and informing about COVID-19. Our faculty’s professors prepared a detailed presentation on Corona Virus and ‘’how to struggle with this outbreak’’. Students from all faculties and other faculty’s professors in our university have attended the event. CIUPSA, Cyprus HuPSA aims to help its members stay motivated and active during this trying time. We launched a webinar related to this topic: it was a huge success, we plan to continue with webinars in various topics. In coordination with the Hungarian Chamber of Pharmacists we established a volunteer program so our members can help out in overwhelmed pharmacies. HUPSA, Hungary The BPSA has been working hard to represent our members during this chaotic time. We’ve taken pre-reg feedback to our regulatory body’s stakeholder meeting to ensure they are supported in their workplace and issued a statement for our university students regarding the need for a no-detriment policy, in the current situation. Although our flagship event was cancelled, we’re taking this time to share happy memories of past conferences online and offer live Executive video evenings to check in with our members and reminisce.

BPSA, The United Kingdom

During these challenging months, CzPSA had to tackle planned projects differently. Our main projects were cancelled, but we managed to reorganise our Career Fair into online sessions, which will happen mid-May. To stay in close touch with our members we organise online sessions, to help each other mentally and to stay motivated for the upcoming examination period. We try to focus more on policy and strengthening the position of pharmacists, at this time when pharmacists are heard more. Along with the Academic Student Senate CzPSA helps community pharmacies with higher demands and lack of staff through pharmacy internships and volunteering from our students. CzPSA, Czech Republic Between the 6th-12th of April, FASFR organised one of its signature public health campaigns - TOBACCOntrol. Consisting of several online activities spread throughout the week, our campaign was a real success, with reaches of over 20k per post! EPSA, ENSP and 2035 Initiative were the big supporters behind TOBACCOntrol, helping us extend it beyond Romanian borders. The campaign’s highlight was our Webinar on Tobacco use and regulations - risk factor for COVID-19, which recorded more than 80 attendees. FASFR, Romania

In the beginning of March we were inspired by the NAPSer Motivation Weekend, which brang all Local Associations together. In addition to the General Assembly, the program was rich in educational and social activities. We are sure that this will motivate participants to contribute to this family of ours called NAPSer. In response to the recent pandemic situation, NAPSer, together with the Pharmaceutical Chamber of Serbia, has organized a campaign called PharmAkt to call up pharmacy students who wish to volunteer at pharmacies in need of assistance. NAPSer, Serbia

At the beginning of March PPSA had its annual PPSA Week. It was filled with workshops, trainings, integration and general promotion of the Association. Also throughout the month PPSA visited primary schools, high schools and Universities of the Third Age to spread awareness of vaccines. PPSA, Poland

During this March, SPSA has started with an initiative: “Pharmacy Students Help Pharmacies” in cooperation with APSK and Slovak Chamber of Pharmacists. Our main goal is to help pharmacies and our future colleagues during this challenging period. Students are voluntarily helping with the preparation of individually prepared medicines, dispensation or takeover of goods. We have also created an interactive map of pharmacies and students engaged in the initiative. SPSA is ready to help and we are going to continue with this initiative as long as necessary. SPSA, Slovakia

SNAPS is currently trying to attract more local student unions to become members of SNAPS. To succeed with this SNAPS have reached out to the student unions with information regarding SNAPS and the possibilities that the membership includes. Also national representation has been made with the aim to broaden the communication between the universities in Sweden. SNAPS is also currently focusing on prioritization of internships depending on location and commitments regarding student organizations. Due to Covid-19, informative information regarding the virus, social distancing and how to prevent the spread have been shared through social media. SNAPS, Sweden

As MUPSA, we held KariyerX event this term. We informed our friends with our various speakers about the working areas of pharmacists. To increase motivation during the quarantine process, we asked our members to share photos of past MUPSA events with the hashtag #goodoldMUPSAdays. Finally, we carried the “Internship Diaries” activity, which we have done before, to the online and realized it on Instagram. MUPSA, Turkey In the beginning of March, VFSO organised its 2-yearly congress about child healthcare. Discovering alternative business models for the pharmaceutical industry, the role of pharmacists in the vaccination process, combined with practical workshops made this edition a blast! Due to the covid-19 crisis, VFSO organised an online livestream with top experts in virology for an interesting debate. Not only pharmacy students but also healthcare professionals such as nurses, doctors and just curious people were eager to listen. The livestream was even mentioned in the news. We can only be proud of our eventcoordinators and team to pull this off! VFSO, Belgium

At the beginning of March, ŠSSFD organized its first interprofessional congress together with the students of Medicine and Microbiology on the topic of Antimicrobial Resistance. We also issued our first two position papers first being on the topic of AMR and the second on the role of pharmacists in Mental Health. During those challenging times, we shared some real-life stories of people impacted by COVID-19 on our Facebook page, started a project Farmakrog (Farmacircle) where we help pharmacies with delivering medicine to the cars, apartments and at the moment one of the main projects is InterACTION #CoronaEdition which focuses on sharing verified information and knowledge about COVID-19 to the general public. ŠSSFD. Slovenia

We at NoPSA have focused on creating our registry and promoting it. The registry is founded so that it will become easier and faster to contact pharmacy students under the epidemic, that will lead to pharmacies becoming less overloaded. In addition, we have also founded a collective labor contract for all pharmacy students that will be called inn from the registry. The reason for the labor contract is so that it will be equally distributed among students. It can be a big difference between work labor amongst the pharmaceutical chains. We wish that this won’t occur because of the contract. We have also stated to us politically about how students get treated by the government in regards to layoffs and we also had a congress of our pharmacy students in february. Last but not least, we have become a new board!. NopSA, Norway

In these troubled times, when all the activity is moving online, SSFB is grateful to our collaborators, Leaders Foundation, for supporting us to continue our project started in the first semester - Learning Journey. The self-development journey continues with new Trainers for a wider audience. We can only be happy that, before our activity was suspended due to the pandemic takeover, we had the chance to host a great EPSA initiative - Twinnet - 5 exciting days of exchange with students from Lyon, France. Moreover, another great achievement we are proud of is managing to organize, for the first time in our Faculty, a blood donation campaign that gathered 60 donors and 30 blood units to save 90 lives, in only 4 hours. SSFB, Romania

Mihai Nițoiu EPSA President

president@epsa-online.org

Mina Grguri EPSA Secretary-General

secgen@epsa-online.org

Marko Ocokoljić EPSA Vice President of Education

vp.education@epsa-online.org

Paulina Kruk EPSA Vice President of External Relations

vp.er@epsa-online.org

Bernardo Marinheiro EPSA Vice President of Internal Affairs

vp.ia@epsa-online.org

Kamber Çelik EPSA Treasurer

treasurer@epsa-online.org

Sanja Aleksić EPSA Vice President of Public Relations

vp.pr@epsa-online.org

Tilen Kozole EPSA Vice President of European Affairs

vp.ea@epsa-online.org

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