V18e1 by EPSA

EPSALETTER

NEWS

bringing pharmacy, knowledge and students together

Volume 18 | Edition 1 | October 2010 www.epsa-online.org

ANNUAL

CONGRESS KRAKOW POLAND th

12 SUMMER UNIVERSITY BOURGAS BULGARIA LJUBLJANA

56 IPSF SLOVENIA CONGRESS FIP CONGRESS

LISBON PORTUGAL

this newsletter is produced by EPSA and is distributed to all EPSA members, national pharmaceutical students’ organisations, faculties, official bodies and sponsors

European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association

Promoting the role of Pharmacists as providers of healthcare in the community Across Europe, Governments and the general public are expecting pharmacists to play a more active role in the provision of healthcare in the community. More than ever before, pharmacists have a primary care role and are the first port of call for consumers with a minor health problem.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare is working with pharmacists across Europe to support their role as primary care experts through its “Ask Your Pharmacist First” initiative. Ask your Pharmacist First is a unique partnership between GSK and pharmacists currently operating in more than 20 countries in Europe. Its objectives are to: Help promote pharmacists as experts Encourage people to visit pharmacies more frequently Provide training for pharmacists and assistants so they can offer the best professional advice to their customers This support programme incorporates consumer advertising and extensive pharmacy training materials. The most recent example of GSKs “Ask Your Pharmacist First” initiative in action can be seen in the area of obesity. ®

In January 2009, GSK received a non-prescription licence for alli (orlistat 60mg). alli is the first non-prescription weight loss aid to receive a licence from the European Commission.

What is alli ? ®

alli® is a weight loss aid for adults who are overweight with a

BMI of 28kg/m2 or more and should be used with a reduced calorie, lower-fat diet.

alli® can help people lose 50% more weight compared to ® dieting alone. So for every two kilograms lost by dieting, alli could help lose one kg more.

Pharmacists are ideally placed to help provide customers with information and support whilst they are undertaking a weight-loss programme. Pharmacy support and training through “Ask Your Pharmacist First” GSK offers comprehensive training to ensure that pharmacists and pharmacy assistants are fully informed about alli® and the support programme. To date, more than 200,000 pharmacy staff in over 60,000 pharmacies across Europe have been trained. The training includes workshops, distance learning and comprehensive detail aids.

This is a great example of how GSK is working closely with European pharmacists to help people to live a healthier and longer life. References 1 WHO. The challenge of obesity in the WHO European region. Fact sheet Euro/13/05. 2005. Available from: www.euro.who.int/document/mediacentre/fs1305e.pdf 2 Orlistat 60 mg in conjunction with diet provides significant reduction in visceral adipose tissue. Poster presented at: 1st International Congress on Abdominal Obesity, 2009, Hong Kong. 3 Greenway F, Smith SR, Murray K et al. Orlistat 60 mg demonstrates a significant reduction in visceral adipose tissue at 24 weeks compared with placebo. Poster presented at: 1st International Congress on Abdominal Obesity, 2009, Hong Kong.

Table of contents and Editor’s words Presidential words

EPSA favourite LS

33rd EPSA Annual Congress

IMP Coordinator of the Year

EAFP Annual Conference

3rd Leadership Summer School

ArmPSA - Armenia

Dealing with Proscratination

EPSA 12th Summer University

EPSA Annual Topic 2010

2nd Parkinson’s Disease Summer School

Twinnet Program

46th EDSA Meeting

IMP Placement Testimonial

EPSA Executive contacts

70th World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

IPSF 56th World Congress

Dear Reader, As EPSA Vice President of Public Relations, I am truly honoured and proud to present you the first EPSA Newsletter of the mandate 2010/2011. The first EPSA Newsletter was published in December 1979 and we took efforts in order to ensure that 31 years later, the EPSA Newsletter has the same quality and variety of content that always characterized it. This issue of the EPSA Newsletter reveals the memories and testimonials of the latest EPSA events such as the 33rd EPSA Annual Congress, the Summer University as well as all the other events where EPSA has been represented by its team and members. You will be able to read amazing articles from our members, professionals’ interviews, and so much more!

I would like to thank to all of those who have contributed to this Newsletter, especially to António Valério, our Design officer, who has design every single page of this publication. Due to everyone’s effort the EPSA Newsletter will reach, once again, all pharmacy students around Europe! Enjoy your reading!

Mariana Fróis EPSA Vice President of Public Relations 2010/2011 vp.pr@epsa-online.org

Presidential Words Dear EPSA friends, I am very happy to introduce you to the first issue of the EPSA Newsletter of the EPSA team of 2010/2011. Each Newsletter created is the result of a lot of hard work from several people, especially from the Vice President of Public Relations and the Design Officer. I can surely appreciate the work done by the VP of PR, since I had this position last year. I would therefore like to congratulate this year’s VP of PR, Mariana Fróis, for her first edition of the Newsletter. I would also like to thank each person that has contributed to the making of this Newsletter, especially the regular members that have dedicated of their time to give us an insight in their experiences. The EPSA team of 2010/2011 was elected during the 33rd Annual Congress in Krakow in May this year, and the vacant positions were filled during the 2nd Executive Meeting in Brussels in June. After some rather radical changes in the EPSA structure were approved in Krakow, the people elected to fill these newly introduced positions have a big challenge with shaping their tasks and visions for the coming years, and it is very interesting to explore the potential of these positions during this mandate. Last EPSA year was a very fruitful year for our association in terms of a strengthened professional image, and this year’s aim is to focus on continuing this development, as well as bringing forward our educational projects even more. We also want to get as close as possible to all our members throughout the year. I believe that the content of this Newsletter shows the diversity of our association, from an article about the Annual Topic of 2010/2011, a training article about procrastination (apparently a very common problem amongst pharmacy students), and also an introduction of one of EPSA’s newest member associations – ArmPSA Armenia.

This summer has been a very eventful, and you can find descriptions of the EPSA Summer University, Leadership Summer School, the 2 nd Parkinson Summer School and the IPSF World Congress. The EPSA team has also been present at several professional events, and you will find articles describing the FIP congress and the EAFP conference. The next EPSA event will be the 7th Autumn Assembly in Helsinki in October, which will gather almost 250 EPSA members for six days of developing themselves as individuals, as well as EPSA as an association. I am looking so much forward to experience the EPSA Spirit again, which is so amazingly present at these big events. But there are a lot of other ways of experience the EPSA Spirit throughout the year. Take part in one of our numerous and diverse projects – for example the TWINNET project or the Training project and you will understand what I mean. Almost six months have passed since the elections in Krakow, and the team has reached many goals already – with such an enthusiastic and skilled team I am really looking forward to see what we will have achieved by the end of this EPSA year. Our webpage is going through some radical improvements, so visit it often and check out the continuous updates. You can now also follow the Team’s activities through our new Blog on the webpage. Yours in EPSA,

Anette Aaland Krokaas EPSA President 2010/2011 president@epsa-online.org

33rd EPSA Annual Congress Kraków, Poland 2010

The 33rd EPSA Annual Congress took place this year, in Poland, on the beautiful city of Kraków between the 26th of April and the 2nd of May. The topic of the congress was “Patents, generics and counterfeits – facing the pharmaceutical challenges of today“.

photo:Eeva Ryynänen

Educational program consisted of two symposium days, workshops and trainings. My personal favorite was the workshop held by Paul de Roos which was about developing oneself. It gave me new insights and we really had fruitful discussions about the matter. During this congress took place the 2nd Science Day with poster presentation from students and young graduates and Meet me Fair – a poster competition between members of EPSA on their national/local activities. EPSA members were also invited to present their posters about the EPSA Annual Topic. Besides this, the 39th EPSA General Assembly was held and many important decisions were made, namely, the changes introduced in EPSA structure and the election of the 34th EPSA Team. One should also not forget the great parties in the evenings where EPSA Spirit took over every participant. We saw the coolest club in Krakow, tasted foods and beverages from all over Europe, drank Polish beer and raised money for the Support Fund.

During sightseeing we also saw the amazing Kraków full of history! The Gala dinner was held, probably, in the deepest place of EPSA history, the Salt Mine. For me the congress gave also new perspectives about EPSA because, for the first time, I really felt I got involved. I was honored to be one of the meeting secretaries during General Assemblies - it gave me an insight on how it is to be part of the team and made me realize how huge is the work needed to keep things running. Besides that, I attended HELP Campaign Project with some other participants and some EPSA team members. We dealt scarves and gloves to the youth of Krakow in the Wawel Castle. The aim of the campaign was to prevent smoking among European youth. Big thanks to Reception Committee which did a great job making sure we all enjoyed our visit in Poland! And to the EPSA team 2009-2010 that came up with a great educational program! See you in the second most important EPSA event of the year – 7th EPSA Autumn Assembly that will take place in Helsinki, Finland! Jenni Hirvonen FiPSA, Finland

EAFP Annual Conference Catania, Italy

Between the 24th and 26th of the past month of June, the European Association of Faculties of Pharmacy (EAFP) and all its members gathered in Catania, a beautiful city in the island of Sicily, Italy, to hold their Annual Conference, which topic was “Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Aspects of Pharmacy Education: Learning Across Health Professions”. EPSA was once again invited by EAFP to present the students’ vision on the topic and to discuss with academics from all over Europe the importance of Multidisciplinary Education and related areas in pharmacy curriculum. The Conference had a great variety of speakers, going from pharmaceutical scientists to industrial pharmacists, passing through medical doctors and biologists, which made this a unique event to discuss how professionals from such different backgrounds can collaborate in order to improve the outcomes for the patient and to fulfill the responsibilities of what being an excellent healthcare professional is. Most of the speakers presented to the audience a variety of good examples of multidisciplinary collaboration in higher education pharmacy institutions, either in pregraduate and postgraduate education, such as the GIMMICS project on Pharmacy Practice in Vrije Universitëit Brussel, the Masters in Pharmaceutical Engineering in the Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Lisbon or the Modular Pharmacy Education in the University of Oslo, among others. This event gathered also the Pharmine Consortium in a joint meeting to discuss the path of the project and further steps that should be taken. Anette Krokaas, EPSA President and Aja Petrikova, EPSA HLM represented EPSA in this meeting. There was also a students’ session moderated by myself together with

some students from Catania that gave their views on the Conference topic and presented the Italian (namely the Catanian) pharmacy curriculum and its pros and cons. From this students’ meeting resulted a Statement of Opinion embraced by EPSA with some recommendations for EAFP regarding the Conference and its topics for the future in order to increase the students’ participation. EPSA also presented a poster named “Multidisciplinar Education in Pharmacy: are students aware of its importance?”, following a survey carried online through all EPSA members and student partners like EMSA, EDSA and IPSF. Next year, the EAFP Annual Conference will be hold in Lisbon and once again EPSA will take part on it. We’ll keep you posted and we hope to meet you in Lisbon in 2011, after the 34th EPSA Annual Congress for this great event! João Duarte EPSA Vice President of Education 2010/2011

(EPSA also presented a Poster with the title “Multidisciplinary Education in Pharmacy: are students aware of its importance?” page nr 7)

Multidisciplinary Education in Pharmacy: are students aware of its importance? João DUARTE1, Marisabelle BONNICI1, Louise Winnecke JENSEN1, Alena PETRIKOVA1, Ana PUIA1 1EPSA

What sort of events/activities do you have regarding this?

Introduction It is consensual that among Health subjects multidisciplinary education and training is required in order to provide students with a wider range of information acquisition, professional practice and scientific expertise. This applies especially to Pharmacy Education, due to its heterogeneity and diversity of fields that can go from the clinical concepts, the social approaches to the patient or the drug information that is essential to transmit to the individual. All of these topics need to have a global and holistic approach in order to assure that the students get the desired competences from the most suitable professionals in the area. With this as an aim of the modern educational institutions, it’s now important to assess what Pharmacy students think about the relevance of a multidisciplinary education in their curricula.

Objectives Opinions were gathered among Pharmacy students from all over Europe with some key questions regarding the availability of multidisciplinary training in their Faculties and the degree of importance they attribute to such learning environments. With this project, EPSA also wanted to assess whether there is any interest in joining forces with other Healthcare students and assess their perception of how this will effect their professions in the future. Misconceptions about collaboration between various Health professionals in the common Health education curricula were also targeted. Finally, this survey also attempted to explore the opinions of students from other Health fields like Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, among others, about what they think of the professional collaboration with the Pharmacist.

Methods An online survey was carried out taking into account the objectives described above. It was composed of 20 questions in total and the personal data regarding the year of studies, course (in order to group and assess each one’s opinions), etc.. Open questions were used to assess the students’ description of barriers to the topic and mainly about the advantages/disadvantages of multidisciplinary education. Closed questions were mainly used to understand with a concrete objectivity level the opinion of the students about specific and bulletpointed facts/myths of multidisciplinary education. The respective survey was promoted to local EPSA member associations through their Liaison Secretaires, through social networks (Facebook and Twitter) and promotion in the EPSA website. The promotion among our fellow Health student associations, namely EMSA (European Medical Students’ Association), EDSA (European Dentistry Students’ Association), EFPSA (European Federation of Psychology Students Associations), ENSA (European Nursery Students’ Association), were made through each association’s promotion media.

Results Within your training is multidisciplinary education supported?

– European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association

In which year of studies are you?

How would you rate the quality of the programme(s)?

Strongly Agree Agree

Strongly

Don’t

Unsure Disagree Disagree Answer

Multidisciplinary education would contribute positively to your profession.

48,2% 47,3%

3,7%

1,0%

Multidisciplinary education would help ensure a flexible health care provision in the 21st century.

40,3% 53,4%

4,2%

2,1%

All programmes for health care professionals should contain an element of multidisciplinary education.

35,6% 50,3% 12,0%

1,0%

0,5%

Multiprofessional education causes confusion between professional roles.

0,5%

9,4%

49,2%

14,7%

5,8%

Multidisciplinary education would threaten my professional status.

3,1%

9,4%

16,2%

45,5%

20,9%

4,7%

Multidisciplinary education enables me to appreciate the roles of other professions.

21,5% 55,0% 11,0%

7,9%

1,0%

3,7%

Multidisciplinary education undermines my professional specialty.

2,1% 11,0% 18,8%

46,6%

16,8%

4,7%

23,6% 62,3%

5,2%

1,0%

Multidisciplinary education enables me to gain insight into other professional skills.

6,8%

How much do other Health students think Pharmacists would benefit from a Multidisciplinary environment? Medicine Dentistry Nursing Psycholog y

83,3% 88,9% 84,2% 85,6% Advantages and Disadvantages of Multidisciplinary Education Advantages Disadvantages Exchange of experience and knowledge

Role confusion of the professionals

Better compliance with patients

Decrease of the professional status

Wider perspective on Health problems

Too much information to learn and study

Barriers to Multidisciplinary Education

Time and organisation issues Cleavage between healthcare workers Lack of specialization Lack of human resources Complexity of the plan of studies Disregard of individual professions

Conclusion According to the results gathered, most of the students who answered the survey have good notions about the usefulness of a multidisciplinary education within the Pharmacy Education and agree that it is surely important not only for their undergraduate curriculum and hence providing them with a well-rounded education but also for the professional development that follows it. However, according to the same survey, there are also limitations to the ideal situation, which include the average quality of the programs and the rising of some competitive scenarios that can disrupt the educational purpose of the cooperation. This are areas that should be targeted by taskforces in order to assure a good multidisciplinary education in Pharmacy Education in Europe.

ArmPSA - Armenia

Meet the newest member of EPSA ArmPSA (Armenian Pharmaceutical Students’ Association) was founded by pharmacy students of the Yerevan State Medical University after M.Heratsi in 2001 and in the same year it became a full member of IPSF. ArmPSA represents more than 300 pharmacy students. The main aims of our organization is to ensure professional growth of pharmacy students by organizing lectures, scientific conferences, seminars and workshops in the frames of Students’ Scientific Society and Students Parliament of YSMU and arrange practical training of students and young graduates in domestic pharmacy facilities and abroad.

ArmPSA has long life in IPSF, but before 2009 we never got the chance to meet EPSA. Fortunately, during that year, I attended the 55th IPSF World Congress in Bali where I met for the first time some members of the EPSA team. They explained me all the details and main activities of EPSA. I was so excited about idea of being a member of EPSA that decided to do my best to realize this idea. The prime purpose of our organization to work with EPSA was representation of ArmPSA in an European level, promotion of exchange program among Armenian pharmacy students and, of course,

to become a member of EPSA family and feel it’s spirit everywhere in Armenia as well. The best chance for us to join it was EPSA Autumn Assembly convened in Genova, Italy. Our organization worked hard and made a lot of effort to fulfill all necessary requirements in due course. Our first EPSA AA was really unforgettable and acquits itself. Our team represented ArmPSA in a proper way, on the result of which, ArmPSA Armenia became a member of EPSA. Becoming a member of EPSA was a very important achievement for us. It was new stage for us through which we had to go. Now we are feeling more special because we overcame this obstacle ourselves. Of course it is merit of our association because all over the year we work very hard and put a lot of effort to overreach all the goals and tops. This is the main keystone of success and prosperity of our association.

Members of ArmPSA are very excited about new exchange programs which are available now after joining EPSA. We are looking forward to have twinnet project with EPSA member-associations. ArmPSA guarantees great exchange: Armenia has very developed fields of

industrial, community and University pharmacies which gives great chance to everyone to get acquainted with the attainments of modern pharmacy, as well as with high professionalism of advanced and leading Armenian pharmacy companies.

Besides educational programs, we will organize amazing social activities as well. It is marvelous opportunity for all of us to meet new people, to create strong partnership, to get more experienced and just to have fun! I am very grateful to administration of my University especially to the rector of YSMU Professor G.Kyalyan for her big support, sponsorship and eternal help. I want to say thank you to members of my organization, especially to Maria Demirtshyan, for their excellent and faithful work, for their huge sense of responsibility and immense brainstorming ideas. Now you know everything about ArmPSA Armenia and we hope that our collaboration will last for many years. We are grateful to all EPSA member-organizations and Executive for the fact that they have given us such a magnificent feasibility to become a part of EPSA family.

Anzhelika Makinyan ArmPSA President

EPSA 12th Summer University Bourgas, Bulgaria

Between the 18th and 24th July 2010, the Bulgarian Reception Committee welcomed 240 pharmaceutical students from 19 European countries to Bourgas, for the latest edition of EPSAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Summer University.

own traditional drinks and food in order to share their culture with the attendees. This year was no exception, and the finest products were brought on tables for everyone to taste. The Gala dinner took place the last night at the hotel, and the participants had the opportunity to dress fancily to spend their last moments altogether. For the last time, we shared a traditional Bulgarian meal, before heading to the dancefloor for another Muevelo and many other traditional dances from Europe. However, the RC had one last surprise for us, and as we left the dining room and head near the pool, fireworks illuminated the dark sky, leaving everybody unforgettable memories of an amazing week spent together.

That week, many quality lectures about marketing were provided to the students, as well as workshops and presentations of EPSA and its activities. The participants also had the opportunity to discover some of the hottest spots on the Bulgarian coast, such as Sunny Beach, sightseeing in the old city of Nessebar and Sozopol. Those who wanted to relax a little more could stay at the fancy hotel, enjoying refreshing drinks at the bar, playing ball in the swimming pool or sun-tanning on one of the numerous white long chairs by the pool. At night, everybody was invited to get along with each other in bars, party in the best nightclubs of the area, and also enjoy the themed-nights prepared by the RC.

For all of the new-born friendships and reunited ones, for everything that we learned from the lectures and from the other students, and for all of these everlasting memories, on behalf of the 240 participants, I would like to thank the RC for their hardwork, availability and fun spirit They revived EPSA Spirit, now it is our task to keep it alive! Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s meet again in Helsinki for the next EPSA Autumn Assembly in October!

Kelly Seng EPSA Publications Officer 2010/2011

The Bulgarian night in the old village of Bata introduced us to the finest Bulgarian traditions, including Bulgarian cuisine and dances. Obviously, an EPSA Event would not be the same without its now famous European evening, during which every delegation bring their

2nd Parkinson’s Disease Summer School Ljubljana, Slovenia

“Work hard, play hard” - it is in every PDSS’ essence. The second PDSS was not an exception! The 2nd Parkinson Disease Summer School took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, between the 19th and 28th July 2010. Twelve students from 7 countries created 3 proposals for further research, made long lasting friendships, memories and professional connections. The event was organised by EPSA, ENSA, EMSA and EFPSA.

unknown. The choice made lead us in the direction of continuing summer journey into unexplored science areas.

The daily morning walk from the student hostel until the

Next year, PDSS will be host in the Technical Medicine Department, Twente University in Enschede, The Netherlands. Its preparations have already begun, there are lots of ideas, so I am warmly inviting everyone who is interested to follow the website: www.parkinsonsummerschool.com. Registrations will open in January 2011!

Neurology Department of University Medical Centre of Ljubljana made us aware on how refreshing summer mornings actually are. This walk included crossing the bridge over the Ljubljanica River, where looking on the left one can see one of numerous small and tempting bridges, and on the right a well-balanced set of willow trees stretching their branches towards the calm water. While arriving at the university, the swirl of brainstorming sessions, mind mapping activities and time limited tasks would begun. Twelve students from 7 different countries worked on describing facts about Parkinson’s disease. First, the facts known to science, then the

Healthcare students from different fields of expertise were present – Medicine, Pharmacy, Technical Medicine, Physiotherapy and Molecular Engineering. They worked with accent on team spirit and collegiality. Every morning there was pressure to finish one part of the big final task. Then, during the afternoon, lectures were given by experts from Slovenia and abroad. Experts reviewed current work and gave advice for the next steps. Mutual advising, exchange of ideas and creative and argumentative discussions were part of students’ lives for 9 days. Paul de Roos, MD from The Netherlands and the idea creator of the PDSS, Krzysztof Nesterowicz, PhD student at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Poland and Federico Pisanu, student at the Faculty of Management Engineering in Italy, as trainers, guided participants towards the final goal. Three proposals for research were created and evaluated by many reviewers including medical professionals and patients who received reports via Internet during the Summer School. A final presentation of research proposals was transmitted in an online session and viewers were able to ask questions in a live chat.

Vladimir Stojoev Faculty of Pharmacy, Belgrade

70th World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Lisbon, Portugal As the very last few days of summer were passing, Lisbon was hosting a scientific event of utmost importance, the 70th FIP Congress (28th of August – 2nd of September).

The International Pharmaceutical Federation is the global federation of national associations of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists, encompassing two million pharmacists and scientists through its 124 Member Organizations. Therefore, it was only natural that EPSA team members would want to be there for an enriching and rewarding congress experience, as the organizers described it would be. The EPSA executive was well represented, most of its members were present : Anette Aaland Krokaas (President), João Duarte (Vice President of Education), Katja-Emilia Lillsunde (Secretary General), Mariana Fróis (Vice President of Public Relations), Sanziana Marcu (Vice President of External Affairs). Other EPSA team members have also joined them: Miguel Ribeiro (Parliamentarian), Raluca Negricea (Parliamentary Council Member), Cristina Parau (Social Services and Public Health Coordinator), Inkatuuli Heikkinen (Training Coordinator), Bruno Marques (34th EPSA Annual Congress RC Chairperson).

The congress venue was the Lisbon Congress Center with lecture halls that hosted the scientific sessions, but also an exhibition of pharmaceutical companies and service providers to pharmacy and a poster exhibition. The main theme of the congress was “From molecule to medicine to maximizing outcomes: Pharmacy’s exploratory journey”. In addition, sessions with adjacent themes took place : “From Sciences to Practice”, “Pharmaceutical Sciences”, “Envisioning and Preparing Future Practice”, “Pharmacy Education”, “Meeting Specific need of patients and population”, “Collaboration to ensure safety and efficiency of treatments for patients”, etc. During the congress, events were organized especially for young pharmacists and first timers, so that first time visitors of the congress would easily integrate amidst their colleagues. In consequence, FIP brought back the First-Timer Mentor Programme, due to its success from the previous year. Why is this programme so successful? Which benefits did it brought for the first timers? “Congress Mentors” are people who have already attended the FIP Congress and are willing to help the new participants to make the most out of their first experience. This is why first-time participants were paired with a “Congress Mentor” who would guide them throughout their entire congress, introducing them to both new and experienced attendees and connecting them with others in their field of interest.

The YPG (Young Pharmacists Group) offered a special programme of scientific and educational events, for the young pharmacists, consisting of the following sessions : “Contemporary challenges for the pharmacy profession”, “Using clinical microbiology data to improve anti-infective utilization at bedside”, “Trends in community pharmacy – debating the future of the profession”, “Competence in pharmacies – the role of internships and lifelong learning” and a workshop with the theme : “Dealing with special patients”.

The philosophy leading the FIP Congresses is growth; Growth in the pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacy practice and how we as pharmacists, in the case being future pharmacists, need to grow both personally and professionally in order to meet the continuously changing and evolving needs of the profession, the society we live in and the global health care we are part of. Fortunately, I had the chance to experience this during the Congress in Lisbon, my first congress, the first of many more to come, as I am now proud to be a newly registered member of FIP. In the year 2011, the 71st International Congress of FIP will take place in Hyderabad, India and will focus on “Compromising quality and safety – a risky path”. FIP will celebrate its Centennial from 3rd – 8th of October 2012, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with the Dutch Government hosting a Minister’s Summit on Medicines at this important occasion.

Let’s meet in future FIP Congresses for a fruitful experience, personally as well as professionally that will help us grow as individuals and most importantly – as professionals.

Raluca Negricea EPSA Parliamentarian Council Member 2010/2011

IPSF 56th World Congress

Ljubljana, Slovenia . 2-12 August 2010 After being the host of an amazing Leadership Summer School in July, Ljubljana was one more time in the centre of attention with the organisation of the 56th IPSF World Congress, which gathered 300 world pharmaceutical students on August 2-12. Right before the congress, some students had the chance to attend the Leadership In Training program, which was the fruit of a successful collaboration between IPSF and EPSA trainers. Many topics such as Team building, Communication skills, and Project management were approached during these 4 days, allowing the participants to learn designing their own trainings as well as improving their personal skills.

Trainings were also part of the program of the congress itself, which started with an amazing opening ceremony in the castle of Ljubljana. During 10 days, the participants had the opportunity to attend general assemblies, various workshops, and trainings held by the LIT attendees. An awareness campaign about the Human Papillomavirus was also organised for the first time in a world congress. Bringing brochures, t-shirts, badges and posters with them, participants went to inform locals about the threat caused by the virus and ways to prevent infection. The educational program was not in rest with a very interesting two-days symposia.

Famous speakers were invited to give lectures and workshops about leadership and gene therapy, such as Ian Bates, member of the EPSA Board of Trustees. Member associations also had the opportunity to sit and discuss IPSFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future and projects, including EPSA and IPSFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collaboration. It was decided that both organisations would improve the communication between them in order to facilitate the implementation of their own projects in Europe, as well as considering collaboration on similar projects. To reach this aim, an EPSA/IPSF e-group was created, and the Executives of both organisations agreed to have more joint meetings. The outcomes of their discussions will serve as a base for a new Memorandum of Understanding. After working hard all day, everybody was invited to relax and party at the best bars and clubs of Ljubljana. The social program included the visit of Bled and its famous lake, a typical Slovenian night, and the usual Auction night, International night as well as the fancy Gala dinner to close this amazing congress.

We wish good luck to the new IPSF Board, and look forward to EPSA/IPSF brand-new collaboration! Kelly Seng EPSA Publications Officer 2010/2011

EPSA Favourite LS Heaven Bereket

Name: Heaven Bereket Country / Association: SNAPS (Swedish National Association of Pharmaceutical Students) - Sweden University: Uppsala University Year of studies: 3rd Why and how did you become LS for your association? Since I can remember I have always been interested in humanitarian projects and when I started my studies at the University I also got my eyes open for other questions, especially the ones about the quality of the education. After a year commitment to the Pharmaceutical Student Union (FaS) in Uppsala I ran in to a person called Suzan Mahdi (I bet most of the people involved in EPSA know her! ). She showed me what EPSA is all about and had a genuine trust that I could contribute to changes. Short after I joined Robert Söderbaum and Hanna Wärners in the leadership of the team for Quatrino project and decided to apply for LS in Sweden. I LOVE to meet people and get easily excited over others cultures, traditions and to discuss about the differences of the education system. In short, I saw the huge opportunity by becoming LS for EPSA where I could get inspired and lead it to other students. After a short presentation about myself the SNAPS board voted for me so here I am!  Have you held any positions earlier in your local/ national association or in EPSA? LS is my first position within EPSA. Earlier I have been IPSF delegate for my local pharmaceutical Student Union at the International Committee. By being a part of the International committee I have been working close to all the international and European affairs. What did you do to promote EPSA to the students in your country? First thing I did was to start a facebook group to provide updates as often I can and send messages. Recently, to get the Swedish students know about EPSA and SNAPS I wrote

together with SNAPS treasurer, Sara Linderson, an article about the association and the opportunities we can offer. An article from the two Swedes (Haly Matii and Namer Michael) who participated in the 12th EPSA Summer University will be published in our magazine for pharmacists called Reptilen. I also promoted EPSA events through personal contact so a lot of effort has been talking to people during their lunch breaks, etc. The new project is to upgrade the website which will be a good tool to reach our students. In the future I hope we will organize an international event in every local association where we can promote EPSA and other associations. What is your best experience from being a LS? This is not an easy question to answer… I will attend my first EPSA Autumn Assembly in Helsinki, Finland and from the rumours I have heard, I am positive that it will be one of the best experiences I will have as LS. The great thing about being LS is that you gain so much from just being a part of the skype meetings and to attend congresses. So far the best experience I have is to be part of the Quatrino with Portugal, Bulgaria and Turkey. The establishment of new contacts has resulted to future cooperation and a lot of new friends.  Are you planning to continue working in EPSA after your LS mandate? I would love to continue working for EPSA; There are still a lot of things to do!! I am trying to start a new Quatrino project and I am very interested in the Training Project. But I have started my own humanitarian project about the rotavirus in Africa. The project aims to train health workers, to provide them medicines and hopefully, in the future, the vaccine. This commitment will be a restriction on how much time I can use for EPSA. But even without having a position or function I will try my best to attend the events and share my ideas and thoughts. 

Asked by Mariana Fróis EPSA Vice President of Public Relations 2010/2011

IMP Coordinator of the Year Jaroslav Semerad

Jaroslav Semeradjoined IMP team in April 2010 and within 2 months already showed outstanding results! He is the first Czech IMP Coordinator and also the first one to provide a paid traineeship opportunity to EPSA members in his country. The new EPSA partner is Contipro Group which covers a wide range of products used in pharmacy and cosmetics. EPSA team has chosen Jaroslav Semerad as the IMP Coordinator of the year.

2. What motivates you to work on this project? After the meeting with Jurij, I realised that IMP project is based on really good platform and that everything is thought into details and hopefully has a good future. The other thing that makes me happy is that I can finally see some connection and application between our education and practice. 3. How did you find your first IMP placement? It was four or five years ago when I heard on radio an interview with the owner of the company. Later on, due to the fact that I remembered their products, I found out what was the name of the company. Then, when I arrived back in the Czech Republic, Contipro had an exhibitor at a job fair in my faculty and I proposed them our offer. My colleague Daniel Pecek made also a list of few other companies to whom we want to offer IMP. 4. Did you had some difficulties arranging this placement?

Jaroslav Semerad and Daniel Pecek

1. Why did you decided to join the IMP team? I am the Vice-President of Brno students’ organisation. I went to Slovenia for a „last moment“ Erasmus and I wanted to keep doing something for USF while I was absent. IMP was quite stuck within USF and nothing was really happening on this subject in my organization. I was lucky that I already knew Jurij Obreza: We met in Ljubljana, he introduced me to IMP and gave me tips for the beginning.

There were no real difficulties, as mentioned above. Fortunately, there were rather more lucky coincidences. 6. Is there someone helping you on the local level of IMP work? If yes who is s/he and how is s/he helping you? Yes, the Past President of USF, Daniel Pecek, is helping me and he did a really good job while we were negotiating this placement.

7. Do you think that IMP partners would be ready to pay for their traineeship candidates’ documentation (e.g.: CVs), promotion and EPSA member association services (e.g.: accommodation provision, help with logistics and formalities)? This „service“ is useful for the IMP partners, so I think they would understand this step and take it as a necessary support. Anyway, it will bring them later bigger benefits, if the promotion would be more efficient. 8. What have you gained with IMP? It opened my eyes to future possibilities and improved my communication skills. I am glad that I am taking part of it! 9. Do you think it is possible to find your future career through IMP? Yes, from the communication with our IMP partner I clearly see that it is possible. And I think that most of the other partners will have the same approach and will use this as a possibility to find young and skilful employees. 10. How do you see the future of IMP project? IMP seems to me as a very perspective and useful project. Let´s say the motto could be «Bringing Pharmacy, Students and Companies together». At least what makes me even more optimistic about it is that it is built on a good basis and already has the appropriate infrastructure. Asked by Jurij Obreza, EPSA Vice President of Mobility 2010/2011

3rd Leadership Summer School Ljubjana, Slovenia

Between the 16th and the 25th of July 2010 the 3rd Leadership Summer School (LSS), an event of IFISO (the Informal Forum of International Student Organisations), took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

This event was attended by 3 members of the EPSA Executive (Anette Aaland Krokaas, President; Guilherme Monteiro Ferreira, Treasurer and Mariana Fróis, Vice President of Public Relations), one EPSA Official (Inkatuuli Heikkinen, Training Coordinator) and one EPSA Member (Anne Windfeldt, SOP – Denmark). EPSA was also represented by two past EPSA Team members that participated as Trainers of this event: Louise Winnecke Jensen, Denmark, EPSA Honorary Life Member, who was also the LSS Training Coordinator, and Riccardo Hesse, Italy, EPSA Vice President Partnership Development 2009/2010. The LSS is a 10-days event where the leaders of many international student associations gather to develop their leadership skills and share their knowledge and experience with the other participants and the trainers.

Each day included 8 hours of training covering several topics, such as Feedback, Leadership Styles, Group Dynamics, Facilitation, Presentation Skills, Conflict Management and Motivation. All the participants were divided in groups on the first day, and they had to work as a team from then until the last day - where they presented their final work as a team in the end of a “Case Study” Session. All the groups had a group facilitator, an LSS Trainer. The opinion was unanimous regarding the outcomes of these sessions: Participants had the chance to develop their leadership skills, to learn more about how to work efficiently in a team, to understand how a conflict arises and how to solve it, how to be a facilitator in a discussion, the most important guidelines on how to give a public speech, what kind of tools you can use to manage your time, etc. An Organisational Fair took place on the 22nd of July, where all the associations had the opportunity to present themselves and their work, share their projects and aims. Anette Krokaas, EPSA President, presented EPSA to our colleagues and a small brochure of EPSA and its work was handed out. After that, group discussions to brainstorm on different topics provided by the participants were formed. This session was called Open Space Technology (OST).

On the same day, during the evening, a TEDx session took place. 12 speakers had the chance to share some inspiring words with the audience and make their voice heard. This was definitely a great session, very inspiring and exceeded the expectations of everyone in the audience. On the behalf of EPSA Team, Guilherme Ferreira, gave a speech on “Entrepreneurship”.

The receiver of the 2nd Sebastian Oltmanns Award was announced on the last day of the event by the LSS trainers. Sebastian Otlmanns was a participant of the first LSS in 2008 and President of IAAS (International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences), but passed away on the 17th of May 2009. He gave a lot to IAAS and to IFISO. This award is meant to honor Sebastian’s memory as an extraordinary person, with strong leadership skills as well as a deep interest for other people’s wellbeing. In this 2010 edition the awarded participant was Joost Brillemans (Salus), from The Netherlands. LSS was definitely a great event for all the participants. I strongly recommend everyone to attend such an event! Mariana Fróis EPSA Vice President of Public Relations 2010/2011

As in any youth event there were also amazing parties during this congress. A city tour and a visit to the lakes Bled and Bohinj were also included in the social program of this event. This was also a great opportunity to experience and see all the beauty of Slovenia. Besides this, the participants of LSS 2010 had the opportunity of taking part in a Flash Mob in Ljubljana – Shakira’s hit Waka Waka was played in the main square and everyone danced a choreography learned during the event.

Dealing with Procrastionation Training Project

Good luck guys! Stop being dragged by your laziness! :-) fly

a higher

HAVE FUN . .outcomes will come naturallyLEARN

GROWpace

LEVEL

aim for

skills

and

higher

challenge yourself

HIGHenjoy take care of what keep your motivation

you gained so far

BETTER

friendship

LIVE

Daniel Pecek TNT 2 Participant

break the ice

keep up with the

deﬁne your goals

NEXT interveine

.step experience

branch

EP SA

head towards

seed

pour a little water on it

start something ROOTS

PLANTFRESH absorb open your

INSPIRATION

eyes

During our studies we mostly have to deal with so-called academic procrastination. Most of my co-trainers at TNT admit that the most difficult is to overcome the procrastination not the given task itself. How many times have you checked you e-mail or skimmed walls of your friends on Facebook before you started writing up a paper? And that is just a mild procrastinating. Many of my friends get seriously depressed from feeling useless because they are not able to fulfil their aims. The most important step to overcome the procrastination is to GET STARTED! During the TNT we performed an easy group exercise to learn how to get rid of our procrastinating habits. Imagine you have to hand a paper in a week and you struggle to start writing up. Try to answer these questions.

Step 4 is the deal breaker. If you finish your first five minutes, you win! You have already started and there is a solid chance that you will go on further. Another vital aspect is developing a habit. Work on your task in the same every day until you get used to it. In my experience I like to use my paper calendar where I write down all chunks I wrote down in No. 3. Each day I enjoy scoring them out with a pen leaving just a fully blacked box there. And finally make the area where you work more comfortable: make yourself a tea, play some calm music, etc.

set

If there was no procrastination affecting our daily lives, most of us would become a successful and experienced graduates ready to get a highly paid job. Apart from many other obstacles, the procrastination seems to be one of the most annoying one. Our own fear is holding us back. An American self-help advocate Wayne Dyer once stated: “Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and it gives us an impression that having the success and happiness is hard to achieve”.

When is the deadline? What is motivating and limiting me in finishing the paper? Divide your task into smaller chunks and write these down. What do I have to do before starting writing up? Choose one activity from 3 and work on it for exactly five minutes. Think how you reward yourself after finishing it. How would I like to entertain myself after handing the paper? How will I benefit from finishing this task?

breathe

Have you ever postponed any responsibility for the other day? Do you have problems in meeting deadlines? Maybe you will feel more relaxed after reading this corner. Couple of months ago I learned that I´m not a bone lazy guy as I thought but I´m suffering from the medically acknowledged disease – the procrastination. What a relief! :-)

mind

EPSA t r a i n e r

EPSA Annual Topic for 2010

Pharmacovigilance – “Keeping our eyes open and our medicines safe” During the past two years, EPSA had two major topics on what concerns the Pharmaceutical panorama in Europe: Information to Patients, in 2008-2009, and Drug Counterfeiting, in 2009-2010. When EPSA faced the time to choose another topic, several ideas rose up but in the end there was one of them gathering a large consensus: Pharmacovigilance. Now we need to ask: why Pharmacovigilance? Why did the General Assembly opt for this topic, which is not an easy one at all to explain to the students or to trigger interest by itself? We believe we have some answers for this question:

relevant data from each country can be centralized and rationalized in order to prevent adverse events or to block unknown threats in a much quicker and smoother way, improving the patients’ safety. At the level of the Community Pharmacy, the role of the Pharmacist regarding Pharmacovigilance is one of the crucial ones in the chain of safety. However, is the population aware of the procedures and how important it is to count with the Pharmacist or the Physician when experiencing an adverse reaction? This is also that needs a careful and thorough discussion.

The Pharmaceutical Package, meaning the group of laws and regulations that the European Commission has been analyzing for the past years, includes three main branches of the Pharmaceutical practice: information to patients, counterfeiting and pharmacovigilance. Taking into account that two of the three branches have been already discussed within EPSA, now seems the right time to start discussing the Package as a whole and see what do Pharmacy students know and think about this. Also on the professional side, most of the medicine manufacturers and the industry in general has taken a strong bet on Pharmacovigilance and drug clinical safety. With this, new important changes and positions starting appearing in the industry, such as the Qualified Person for Pharmacovigilance (QPPV) or the Pharmacovigilance Officer, which are nowadays also an option of employment for students and young graduates in the industry. The strenghtning of the regulations and the creation of new platforms like the EudraVigilance in the European space are new opportunities to assure that the

These are the main reasons for choosing this topic. We hope that we can count on you, your doubts and contributions in order to clarify all the students about this very important topic in Pharmacy. João Eduardo Duarte EPSA Vice President of Education 2010/2011

TWINNET Program

TWIN between Leiden and Geneva The Royal Dutch Pharmaceutical Students Association, the K.N.P.S.V. organises every year a TWIN, an exchange between two groups of pharmacy students in two European countries. This year we had an exchange with students from asep, Switzerland. Leiden, 21 - 23 May 2010 On Friday, the 21st of May, ten Swiss and over thirty Dutch (bio-)pharmacy students arrived at the Gorlaeus Laboratory in Leiden, for the opening of the TWIN. After the welcome speech there was an interesting presentation about the Bio Science park (BSP), followed by a tour around alongside the various biopharmaceutical companies on the BSP. After a delicious lunch it was time for a number of integration games! The students were divided into different groups to compete against each other in some traditional Dutch games. The atmosphere was good and there was plenty interaction between the students. For our evening meal we went to ‘Augustinus’, one of the students’ association of Leiden. In the evening we enjoyed ourselves with SingStar, playing karaoke. The next morning it was time for the symposium. First we were told about the K.N.P.S.V. and the curricula of the various studies in Leiden, Groningen and Utrecht. The second part of the symposium focused on oncology. Professor Noteborn and Professor Van de Water gave interesting lectures about new research on cancer. In the afternoon there was sightseeing in Leiden and there was a cruise through the canals of Leiden. After the boat trip it was time for the barbeque, with lots of hamburgers, bacon and sausages. The day ended at Club City Hall where we partied until the early hours in the morning. On Sunday it was time for departure. On to the next weekend!

Geneva, 25 - 27 June 2010 After a twelve-hour bus ride thirty Dutch students arrived in Geneva where we were warmly welcomed by the Swiss students and enjoyed an interesting tour around the Red Cross Museum. Next we headed to our hostel, were we could rest for a bit. The hostel was located in an old bomb shelter, which was a perfect location for accommodating a large group of students. In the afternoon we took a cable car to Mont Saleve at 1100m altitude! We went up the mountain were we had a breathtaking view over Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc Massif. There we had a nice barbeque. Back in the hostel we had a great party and the music stayed on till late at night. On Saturday there was a symposium planned. This time we were told about the developments in the curriculum of the Swiss pharmacy education and there were a number of educational presentations about counterfeit medicines. The afternoon consisted of free time to explore the beautiful city of Geneva. At dinnertime we enjoyed the traditional Swiss raclette. After this feast we left by bus for a great celebration. The next day we had to say goodbye again. We have established a good relationship with the Swiss students, now being pursued through facebook. The TWIN was very successful! Annemarie Trapman K.N.P.S.V. President 2010/2011

46th EDSA Meeting

22nd - 28th August, Amsterdam The Summer meeting of the European Dental Students’ Association (EDSA), traditionally joint with the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) was held between the 22nd and 28th August 2010 at the brand new building of the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA).

Participants from 40 dental schools were present at the meeting presenting projects on the local level, developing projects on the European and global levels, fostering collaboration with professional organizations and discussing common dental students’ issues. The meeting was a great chance to become familiar with new developments in dentistry. For the first time ever, the President of the American Student Dental Association was present at the EDSA meeting. Every year the main topic of the joint EDSA-ADEE meeting is dedicated to a trend or some important topic of dental education. This year’s meeting entited “Digital Dentistry- A Space Odyssey”, taking place in new, high-tech building was the opportunity for participants to learn more about the digital support of dental education, virtual reality technologies, ergonomics in dentistry and participate in hands-on workshops. Students could make virtual tooth preparations using Simodont dental simulators and practice taking digital impressions for dental restorations. In addition, there was an exhibition of dental equipment, especially

equipment used in teaching. Upon completion of production of EDSA’s printed publication “Dental Guide Manual”, providing contact details and information about dental schools and professional organizations throughout Europe, launch of online interactive version of the manual is planned. The new, digital manual will be connected with social networks and should facilitate networking between dental students and professionals. Another digital project, announced by Croatian dental students’ for spring 2011, is the 1st Virtual World Congress of Dental Students that will gather dental students and teachers from all over the world and give every dental student a chance to present a scientific paper and be awarded. Social part of the meeting programme included theme parties and “EDSA vision” song contest during which each country performs a song and dance. During the Amsterdam meeting, the EDSA Executive Committee for academic year 2010-11 was elected: Maja Sabalic, Croatia (President), Matthieu Wipf, France (Vice-President), Ana Stevanovic, Serbia (Secretary General), Diarmuid Coffey, Ireland (Treasurer), Cristina Diana Rizea, Romania (Magazine Editor) and Dimitris Tatsis, Greece (Web Editor). Plans for 2011 include encouraging and supporting students’ active involvement in research and volunteer work. New projects will be directed towards usage of modern technologies, innovation and sustainability. The new EDSA Board looks forward to continuing collaboration with EPSA and sending representatives to EPSA Annual Congress 2011. Possible collaboration include exchanging experiences of setting up volunteer project in Africa and sending volunteers to missions in Guinea-Bissau and Cameroon as well as in the field of student mobility, organizing soft and hard skills training for members of EPSA and EDSA teams. Maja Sabalic EDSA President 2010/2011

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IMP Placement Testimonial

One adventure at GlaxoSmithKline in London Looking back one year ago, I would never have thought that I’d be in London working within the headquarters of one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. I had just finished University and I was entirely clueless as to what I wanted to do in life. However, one thing was for sure. I definitely wanted to travel and experience living life abroad. And when EPSA provided me with that opportunity I was entirely ecstatic! The GSK IMP placement is quite an interesting position. It is an internship level job within the European Consumer Healthcare Sales Team at the GlaxoSmithKline Headquarters in London. In short, the area in which the placement is based in is Consumer Healthcare. Consumer Healthcare deals with the more commercial products such as over-the-counter drugs and oral health care products. Honestly, my first day at the job I had no idea what I would be doing for the next couple of months. It was such a scary thought for a Pharmacist coming from a background of dispensing drugs to old ladies to suddenly forming part of a Consumer Healthcare Sales team! However, after a couple of weeks, I started to settle down. The Sales team is such a great team that it’s difficult not to feel at home with them! Also, I was happy to be learning so many new skills. In general, my job involves assisting the Sales Team with their projects, for example by working on Sales reports, extracting data from intelligence sources, attending Project meetings, be involved in the discussions etc.

and shopping! The best thing about London is that it is a big city which provides many opportunities where you can meet new friends. Personally I have never regretted my decision to participate in this IMP placement. I believe that experiencing work abroad gives you a really good start to your career. Also, most importantly, it makes you a stronger person as you get out of your comfort zone. I would definitely recommend to anyone with a strong sense of adventure for life and travel to give it a try and apply for these IMP placements! Ruth Gatt IMP Trainee at GlaxoSmithKline, London

One big advantage of this placement is that it is set in London! London is such a vibrant, multi-cultural city and its worth to have experienced living here. You get to meet people from many different countries (OK, so maybe not as many as you would at an EPSA International Evening!). There is also quite a diverse night life scene and it’s a really great place for theatre

EPSA Executive Contacts EPSA President Anette Aaland Krokaas president@epsa-online.org

EPSA VP of Public Relations Mariana Frรณis vp.pr@epsa-online.org

EPSA VP of Education Joรฃo Duarte vp.edu@epsa-online.org

EPSA VP of Mobility Jurij Obreza vp.mobility@epsa-online.org

EPSA Secretary General Katja-Emilia Lillsunde secgen@epsa-online.org

EPSA VP of External Affairs Sanziana Marcu-Lapadat vp.ea@epsa-online.org

EPSA Treasurer Guilherme Monteiro Ferreira treasurer@epsa-online.org

EPSA Office Rue du Luxembourg 19-21, 1000 Bruxelles, BELGIUM epsaoffice@epsa-online.org

www.epsa-online.org

BRINGING pharmacy knowledge students

TOGETHER 31

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