ISSUE 7
IPSF PARO NEWSLETTER June 2020
STUDENTS TODAY. PHARMACISTS TOMORROW.
June 2020
Issue 7
NEWSLETTER
IPSF PARO Table of Contents
MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS
4
CHAIRPERSON'S ADDRESS
5
EDITORS
6
REGIONAL WORKING GROUP
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ARTICLE 1:
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ARTICLE 2:
10
ARTICLE 3:
12
ARTICLE 4:
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ARTICLE 5:
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PARS UPDATE
17
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IPSF PARO Member Associations FULL MEMBERS
MEMBERS IN ASSOCIATION
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Chairperson's Address Dear members of the Pan American Regional Office, It is such great pleasure and honour to be able to serve you all this year as your Chairperson of the Pan American Regional Office (PARO). I am incredibly proud to show you the seventh IPSF PARO Newsletter, which works as a platform to broadcast the awesome work of our leadership and our member organisations. All of them with no distinction continue leaving their mark on their communities and on IPSF as well. The whole effort invested into our activities in our region and into every country is a motive of pride for each of our members organisations and for the all IPSF Executive Committee by equal. Occupying this leadership position is very challenging and it could mean I am the head of the Regional Office; however, there is a very big machinery behind that maybe none sees and this cannot be done without my amazing Team. The Regional Working Group, and their subcommittees, the whole PARO Team have worked tirelessly to ensure IPSF PARO has successful mandante, I would like to congratulate them for taking the decision to represent their countries and member organisation and carry out activities that go beyond an ordinary student. In addition, I hope the IPSF PARO Newsletter can encourage you all to get involved with your member organisation and if you would like to get drenched into the IPSF Spirit and you can be part of journeys you have never dreamed of. For example, being part of our Regional Symposium. I cannot wait to see you all there with no words to express my feeling I would like to finish with the IPSF motto; Students today, Pharmacist Tomorrow. Viva la Pharmacie! My kindest regards,
Jean-Pierre Regalado Escobdeo Chairperson of the Pan American Regional Office 2019/2020
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Editors TRANSLATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE
Ms. Shella JEAN-FRANÇOIS AHEP, Haïti
Ms. Francesca Gutierrez APhA-ASP, USA
Mr. Hugo Napán APEFYB, Peru
Mr. Joseph Kerby AHEP/PHARMINFOS, Haïti
Ms. Faïmi Darha BELLERICE AHEP, Haïti
Ms. Louka Thanicha Louis PHARMINFOS, Haïti
Ms. Noelia Arce Rodríguez FECOEF, Costa Rica
Ms. Anaís da Silva Marques FEBRAF, Brazil
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IPSF PARO 2019-2020
REGIONAL WORKING GROUP Mr. Jean-Pierre Regalado Escobedo Chairperson APEFYB, Peru
Mr. Ethan Brenneman Regional Projects Officer APhA-ASP, USA
Mr. Daniel Rivera Secretary AGEQFBO, El Salvador
Ms. Alida Soto Regional Media and Publications Officer CAPSI, Canada
Mr. Yoel Alcรกntara Regional Relations Officer FEFARMEX, Mexico and FEBRAF, Brazil
Ms. Estefania Choqque Tacuri Mr. Austin Green Chairperson of PARS Immediate Past Chairperson APEFYB, Peru APhA-ASP
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ARTICLE #1 LUKAS GALLEGOS GUTIÉRREZ
COMMUNITY PHARMACY INTERVENTION: ACCESS TO MEDICINES
Access to Medicines Activity summary: This activity was carried out on December 5, 2019 in the context of the "Chilean Social Outbreak" in order to educate the population about the problem of access to healthcare that has affected our country for several years, all this to train citizens with opinions so that tomorrow we can channel the demands to a better health of the population. Groups of passers-by were summoned, with the help of amplification and the speech of an expert pharmacist on the route of the medicine, they were informed about the underlying problems that generate difficult access to medicines in our country and, added to this, students distributed informative brochures on the problem.
Chile, the country where the medicines are the most expensive in Latin America, where there are “Brand” generics, where the pharmaceutical industry and prescribers (doctors, dentists and midwives) reach deals to benefit themselves at the expense of patients, where patients are called to surgery after their death, where mental health is a myth and where the public health network screams and cries for more resources every year, while the owners of this country continue to enlarge their pockets. This is added by a weak pharmaceutical union, in a country where it is not forced to be part of the professional college to practice a profession, again blaming the Pinochet dictatorship. All of the above has made the
Organization of the activity and social context: The great sequel to the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship from 1973 to 1990 was the establishment of a capitalist economic model that ended up commercializing several of the fundamental rights in our country. One of them, and perhaps the most affected, was the right to health, with the example being so simple that only the state guarantees the citizen the right to choose whether their health insurance will be public or private. This over the years turned all the health links into mere commercial products, including, of course, the medicine.
medicine practically a luxury and the pharmacy a place that is the closest thing to a supermarket, mostly acting as a merchant and very little like a health center. After the third rise in the price of the subway ticket in less than a year in the Chilean capital, Santiago, the glass of discontent that had been accumulating for 30 years after the end of the 1973 dictatorship was overflowed and, added to a the current government which has shown apathy and an indifference to social demands, began the so-called
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“Social Outbreak”, which as of the date of this article is already 100 days old and is present throughout the national territory. A social outbreak manifested in constant and massive protests, where the population has taken justice into their own hands before the entities that have most violated them in recent years, being one of the most affected, the community pharmacy. Hundreds of community pharmacies have been destroyed and looted across the country. The discontent with the pharmacy is explained after a disastrousevent in 2008 where 3 pharmacy chains were convicted of collusion, reaching internal deals to
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unrest and create a better health for Chile. Implicitly integrating students into these “Sactivities implies educating these future professionals that health should no longer be on the market and that pharmacies should stop being mercantile in order to become health centers, and by understanding that this is only possible if the pharmacist takes to the streets to educate and empower himself as he should have done years ago and not become a passive accomplice. Conclusions: After the channeling of the demands regarding health, especially of the pharmaceutical area, as ANEQyF we are prepared to face the new health that Chile needs with Pharmaceutical Chemists to service the community as a health professional as it should always have been, performing pharmaceutical care wherever that may be, acting to encourage the rational use of medications over one's own benefit or that of third parties, and ensuring the recovery of the pharmacy as a health center. All this with ensuring the quality, safety and efficacy of drugs to the central axis of health systems, the patient.
establish similar prices for medicines in order to equate their profits at the expense of the population's pocket. This generated a general distrust regarding the pharmacy, so that when the “Social Outbreak” occurred, there was practically no distinguishing between these chain pharmacies and the independent pharmacies of small entrepreneurs, so they all suffered equally. After this, there were two generalized opinions: “no more market health” and “no more retail pharmacies”. At ANEQyF, since its inception, it has had these two phrases tattooed on its spine and after detecting the prevailing need to inform and then create solutions, we went out to join the social
Lukas Gallegos Gutiérrez Chemistry and Pharmacy Student Conception University, Chile International Relations Coordinator Contact Person ANEQyF Chile
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ARTICLE #2 AMANDA BUNYAMIN
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE: ROTATION IN AN INDUSTRY SETTING
What I love the most about being a future pharmacist is the countless different career options I can choose from. In my hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, I have worked in a community pharmacy for the past few years and have thoroughly enjoyed my experience there. I decided quite early on that going forward, working in a community pharmacy is what I wanted. Nonetheless, through the various practical experience rotations offered during our years in the pharmacy program, I have been able to understand the role of pharmacists in other settings. For instance, at the University of Saskatchewan, we get to do a rotation in a hospital pharmacy after our 3rd year, which I also greatly enjoyed. However, aside from hospital and community, I haven’t had the opportunity to experience any other field in pharmacy. That was until our 4th year rotations, where I had the chance to head out to the Greater Toronto Area and work in a pharmaceutical company. Prior to this rotation, my knowledge of pharmaceutical companies and the industry side of the profession was very limited, which is why I had selected this option for my 4th year specialty rotation. Furthermore, the description for this rotation stated that the focus would be around developing and implementing various pharmacy service programs. This is a topic I have been passionate about during my time in pharmacy and have previously held a position on our local CAPSI council in which my role was to promote our profession to the public and raise more awareness surrounding the scope of
pharmacists. Nonetheless, I still had concerns regarding this rotation, mostly about how the skills and knowledge we gain throughout pharmacy school would be utilized effectively in an industry setting. Any misconceptions I had about the industry was quickly resolved once I started my rotation. When I got there, I was assigned to help one of the pharmacists develop a travel health program. And with this project, I realized I underestimated how much work goes into developing a pharmacy service program. During my time at this company, I did a lot of research into what the most prevalent diseases were in popular travel destinations, the dosing schedule for various vaccines and chemoprophylaxis medications, and any other health related topic that would be relevant for someone
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travelling. From there I helped develop various tools to be used in the pharmacy, such as vaccine recommendation templates and patient information handouts. For the most part, the industry setting does have an emphasis on business aspects, but I realized it incorporates evidence-based medicine and clinical knowledge as well. There were many treatment options and disease states pertinent to travel that had been mentioned in some of my pharmacotherapeutic classes that I was able to apply to my work in this rotation. And although it may be a job with no direct patient care, everything that is being done to develop a pharmacy service program is done with the patient in the forefront of their minds. In addition, the scope of practice for pharmacists is continuing to expand in Canada, and with this, I find that the profession is beginning to shift its focus to providing more pharmacy services at the community level. From being able to inject vaccines, prescribe for minor ailments, and conduct comprehensive medication assessments, pharmacists across the country are able to do so much more to provide accessible
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health care services and better patientcentered care. And I was grateful that I had the opportunity to have a rotation where I could contribute to the expanding scope of practice for pharmacists. Before starting this rotation, I thought that the pharmaceutical industry setting focused only on business propositions. And in my mind, business and patient-centered care were mutually exclusive concepts. But looking back at the weeks I had at this rotation, I’ve come to the conclusion that any facet of pharmacy revolves around patient-centered care. Whether it is in a pharmaceutical corporation developing new programs, in the community interacting with the general public, or in a hospital working with a team of healthcare providers, pharmacists in any setting are able to showcase their expertise and push the boundaries of the profession to provide the best possible care. Amanda Bunyamin BSP Candidate 2020 University of Saskatchewan
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ARTICLE #3 SERGIO SÁNCHEZ
VAMPIRE CUP
The IPSF (International Federation of Pharmacy Students) has made great efforts to promote blood donation by organizing the Vampire Cup, which consists in a blood donation competition between national associations of pharmacy students. In contrast, Colombia has a rate of 15 per 1,000 inhabitants, which is low, so it needs an average amount of 25 per 1,000 inhabitants. Under this scenario, the Colombian Association of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Students (ACEQF) in mid 2019 will participate for the first time in the IPSF Vampire Cup, during the participation days a competition is promoted at the national level among the five sections that make up ACEQF (Atlántico, Antioquia, Bolívar, Bogotá and Valle del Cauca). ACEQF Bolivar carried out the campaign for 3 days, the first 2 days the donation was made in the historic center of Cartagena, while the third was made at the University of Cartagena. The first day they had the
support of the Colombian Red Cross, while the second and third, with the Hemocaribe blood bank, this section managed publicity on the Radio Caribe station and in the local newspaper Q'Hubo on its own, which was reflected in its results collecting 326 units of blood, being internally recognized as the winning sectional of the competition. In Barranquilla ACEQF Atlántico held its first day outside the Universidad del Atlántico with the support of the Colombian Hematological Foundation, who gave gifts to donors and especially to frequent donors; 37 blood units were collected during the day.In Cali, ACEQF Valle del Cauca carried out its event with the support of the Valle de Lili Foundation and the city's health secretariat, 24 units were collected in the Poets' Park. In Bogotá, the conference was held at the National University of Colombia with the support of the Hospital de la Misericordia. About 60 teachers and students wanted to donate their blood but due to health problems only 35 were able to donate, even some teachers gave bonuses on the qualifications of the students who donated.
Image 1: Recognition by IPSF for the efforts made by ACEQF in promoting blood donation within the framework of the vampire cup.
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In the city of Medellín the day was held at the University of Antioquia, some students dressed as vampires and went to each classroom to invite students and teachers to donate, at the same time a marathon of movies about superheroes was held promoting the slogan "Be a hero, be a donor".
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the IPSF “Superhero Award Winner” recognition for having been the association that made the greatest efforts worldwide to promote blood donation in their country. Sergio Sánchez Student Exchange Officer ACEQF
Unfortunately, because of the disturbances presented by a citizen protest, the activity had to be stopped, which is why only 17 units of blood were collected. The last day of the campaign (June 15) was difficult for all the volunteers because the Colombian soccer team played its first game in the Copa América, so many people were focused on watching the game; however, that day they could collect 48 units of blood. The final result was 479 units of blood. The results of the activity were reported to IPSF by the official media, which earned them
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ARTICLE #4
THE IPSF NIGHT IN COSTA RICA: AN UNPRECEDENTED
sometimes this structure isn’t well known by all of the members of our Federation and that’s why we decided to create a specific activity to connect pharmacy students with this amazing and well-consolidated structure.
INTRODUCTION TO THE IPSF WORLD
The third National Symposium of Pharmacy Students in Costa Rica (3 SINAEF) was held on January 17th to 19th. It has more than 20 activities included in his schedule. From educational talks to social activities, this wonderful event was consolidated as the major event for the future pharmacists of the country. It was born as a national initiative but at the end, we had inscriptions from Panama, USA, and Peru. Which made us felt proud of developing such a success story. One of the activities carried out in the 3rd SINAEF was the “IPSF Night”. IPSF is the largest network of students and recent graduates of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences worldwide. It has 350,000 students in 90 countries, so we decided to dedicate a whole night to this incredible structure to which we belong. We know that the link with this organization provides an intercultural and interdisciplinary audience of current and future leaders of the pharmaceutical profession worldwide. In addition, it promotes and encourages international visits and student exchanges that FECOEF has achieved. However,
Figure 1. Students of Costa Rica and Panamá get involved in the IPSF Night. They brought different material to decorate their table.
The IPSF Night consisted of decorating representative tables of each IPSF region with some of its most representative dishes, drinks, and information (Figure 1). In this way, pharmacy students could know which regions were part of IPSF and which are the different countries were to practice the Student Exchange Program. Also, part of the objectives of 3 SINAEF was to highlight the Costa Rican culture in all its activities, so there were representative tables from each of the seven provinces (political division) of the country (Figure 2).
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At the gala dinner, the most creative table was awarded by the FECOEF. Panama and Heredia (province of Costa Rica) were the winners of the IPSF Night (Figure 3). At the end of the night, culture and music were mixed to start the symposium with the best welcome party (Figure 4).
Figure 2. Students of Costa Rica creating informative tables of the provinces of Costa Rica.
To achieve this, participants were divided into teams. By choosing to work as members of a team, individuals take on the risks of conflict, joint work products and collective action that are necessary to build a common purpose, goals, methods and mutual accountability (Mirkov, 2018). That's why we use the IPSF Night to test the abilities of students working on a team.
Figure 3. A. Panamá received first place in the IPSF Night of International tables. B. Heredia receiving the first place in the IPSF Night of the category of provinces of Costa Rica
Let's get to know the world of Pharmacy in one night! Greivin Vega Álvarez President of FECOEF 2019-2020 Figure 4. All of the students that attend to the IPSF Night, celebrating Pharmacy as a young people
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ARTICLE #5 MELISSA KIELEY
MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY’S FIRST EVER STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM (SEP)
Whales, icebergs and a whole lot of wind. These are just a few of the things that Memorial University’s first ever Student Exchange Program (SEP) students got to experience during their four weeks in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, otherwise known as the most easterly place in North America. This past summer Memorial University of Newfoundland’s School of Pharmacy hosted two Pharmacy students from Slovenia to participate in IPSF’s biggest project, the Student Exchange Program (SEP), for the very first time. Both SEP students were given the opportunity to complete their exchange in research at the School, particularly in the area of Drug Discovery and Design. Between the hours of 10am and 4pm Monday to Friday they worked under two different associate professors, Dr. John Weber and Dr. Laleh Alisaire. Meanwhile, in their spare time, along with other pharmacy students from Memorial University, they visited places such as the famous jelly bean row, watched some waves at Cape Spear, joined in on a whale watching tour, and hiked parts of the East Coast Trail. Our SEP students indulged in poutine, did their best to understand the Newfoundland “accent”, and danced their hearts away on George Street, which has the most bars and pubs per capita of any street in North America.
responsible for the logistics and planning behind this entire exchange. This involved searching for hosts, finding the students a place to stay, coordinating activities and events while the students were in Newfoundland, and most importantly, passing on our love for this little island in the middle of the North Atlantic. Being born and raised in St. John’s and having lived here my whole life, I was so proud to show these students our beautiful province. Melissa Kieley IPSF Liaison/Contact Person CAPSI Memorial University of Newfoundland
But not only did the incoming SEP students benefit from this experience, I did too. Being the IPSF senior representative at Memorial University at the time, myself and my junior representative, Mahima, were
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PARS 2020 & 2021 UPDATE
PARS CUSCO 2021
The Reception Committee of the XIV IPSF Pan American Regional Symposium was very sad to announce the cancellation of PARS 2020. The situation that the world is going through due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19, is one that was unforeseen. However, they proposed to reschedule PARS for the year 2021. This would mean that PARS Santiago 2021 would also need to be rescheduled to 2022. This matter was discussed between Estefania Choqque Tacuri, Chairperson of the XIV IPSF PARS Cusco, Peru and Lukas Gallegos Gutiérrez, Chairperson of the XV IPSF PARS - Santiago, Chile.
PARS SANTIAGO 2022
Lukas Gallegos Gutiérrez informed IPSF that this decision would not affect the current planning progress of the XV IPSF PARS - Santiago, Chile. Therefore the decision was made to move both PARS forward one year. We are happy that both parties were able to come to an agreement and that the decision will not impede the planning progress of either reception committee. We are looking forward to seeing you all in Cusco in 2021 and in Santiago in 2022!!
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