PARO Newsletter #8 | English version
Angela Micovic, a member of the PARO Media and Publications Subcommittee had the unique opportunity to interview an Honorary Life Member, Matthew Hung, a Canadian hospital pharmacist over Zoom to discuss his previous and current involvement with IPSF PARO and how this has shaped his professional identity. Please enjoy this exclusive interview – we hope it will encourage pharmacy students to seek more ways to get involved with IPSF and PARO!
Start by telling us a little bit about yourself. I graduated from Laval University in Quebec City in 2018. From there, I went on to complete my residency at the University of Montreal and the Montreal Jewish General Hospital in 2019. Today, I work as a clinical staff pharmacist in critical care at St. Mary’s Hospital. It is a teaching hospital set in the middle of the city, and it is affiliated with McGill University. I also consult for the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) in Practice Development where I am involved in research, writing documents, and supporting the staff in this area. I also sit as a volunteer member on the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists Pharmacy Practice Vision Committee. We work on projects that promote excellence in hospital pharmacy practice. How did you initially become interested in IPSF? I first discovered IPSF in a Facebook post during my first year of pharmacy school. I saw a post about their delegation at the World Health Assembly (WHA), and I found that it was a unique experience, so I started to look further into what it was all about. From there, I ended up applying to the Pan American Regional Office (PARO). What IPSF positions did you hold? The first two positions I held with PARO were the Diabetes Mellitus & Healthy Living Campaign Subcoordinator as part of the Regional Projects Subcommittee and member of the Membership Promotion Subcommittee. During this year (2015), a call for the Regional Media and Publications Officer opened, so I applied, and my application was successful. That same year I had the opportunity to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA) for the first time. The following year, I was elected as PARO Secretary (2016-2017), where I really learned a lot about the Federation.
I had the opportunity to attend PARS which was held in Mexico City, where I was then appointed to the position of Chairperson of PARO. During my year as Chairperson (20172018), I was on a student exchange in France, so this facilitated travelling to the Netherlands and other places for various meetings. I also attended the WHA for a second time, but this time I was a member of the Organizing Committee, so I had more responsibilities with regards to developing policy statements and other contributions. That same year, I attended the Pan American Regional Symposium (PARS) in Peru along with World Congress (WC) in Argentina. At these events, I was able to visit different countries and provide talks about IPSF. The following year, I was Immediate Past Chairperson (2018-2019) and appointed an Honorary Life Member. In my final and fifth year of IPSF involvement, I was on the Advisory Board of IPSF (2019-2020). What did you involvement?
learn
from
your
IPSF
I was PARO Chairperson in my last year of pharmacy school, and during my last semester I was on my exchange in France. I even had to have Regional Working Group meetings at 3 am due to the 6-hour time difference because the meetings were always based on when most people were available! Furthermore, it was challenging at times to prioritise tasks and time manage, but a trick that I found useful was scheduling a dedicated time to work on PARO tasks; I took a few hours of each Saturday to specifically work on IPSF so I wouldn’t get behind on any projects or pending deadlines. I also worked as a pharmacy student and still had schoolwork to complete, so I would definitely say being organised and managing your time well is really important!
13
