Newsletter 68 - SEP

Introduction Dear all IPSFers!

A successful year has been left behind! After the 55th IPSF Congress in Bali, Indonesia, I’m sure you all have fully charged your batteries with enterprise and motivation to start this new year in IPSF with a lot of energy!

For me, it’s been a truly busy and challenging year. Above all, I have to thank my Exec family for their love and support. Of course, I cannot forget to mention my Student Exchange Officers: they are the main reason why I woke up with IPSF and went to bed with IPSF every single day for one whole year, and they have encouraged me to fulfil my duties with their trust and their friendship! I can truly say that there would be no SEP without them!

However, I can truly say as well that there would be no Chairperson of Student Exchange without the Student Exchange Committee, and I want to dedicate this Newsletter to these amazing people, who have worked hand in hand with me along the year and have been my inspiration, my advisers and, above all, my friends. Thank you all!!

And now, please, give a loud applause to the Student Exchange Committee 2008-09!!

Yours in IPSF,

Immediate Past Chairperson of Student Exchange

Hello fellow IPSFers, Dear IPSFers, I’m Slaviťa Stojkovid from Serbia, member of the IPSF Student Exchange Committee for the last two years. I finished my Master studies two years ago and my specialization only 6 months ago. However, the IPSF spirit is still in me. I was the SEO for NAPSer Serbia from 2006 to 2008, but my engagement with IPSF dates from 2005. My first involvement was in IPSF Moving On II as NAPSer Pharmacy Education Coordinator, and I started in SEP as a host to a student from Latvia. This was a very good experience which encouraged me to apply for exchange in 2006, when I spent a wonderful month in Bandung, Indonesia. I keep very good memories of my training there and the great friendships I made. That trip broadened my horizons in every field and SEP became one of my major activities for future years. Yours in IPSF,

NAPSer Serbia

I am Melissa Teo from Australia. I graduated from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor of Pharmacy in 2007 and completed my pharmacy internship in 2008. I am currently working as a registered pharmacist in hospital pharmacy in Adelaide. I started becoming involved with IPSF when I was elected to be the SEO and CP for NAPSA Australia in 2007. It was an amazing experience to meet and connect with so many people across the world under the banner of IPSF. SEP opened my eyes to the world of pharmacy practice, and great differences between pharmacy practice here in Australia and in other parts of the world. Above all, I get to call the people I met along the way friends and will continue to call them friends for the rest of my life! Overall, being involved in IPSF and, in particular, SEP is a great experience and I highly recommend it to any pharmacy student across the world!

NAPSA Australia

Dear IPSFers, I am Marzena J. Kiryk, a 22 years old pharmacy student.

My involvement in IPSF began when I was elected as the SEO for YP Poland in 2008. It was my 2nd year of studies! I was really afraid not to be a proper candidate, I thought I was too young for this post, but my SEO predecessor had infected me with the IPSF spirit and I was really grateful for that. Today I can say that there is no better way to become involved in the world of pharmacy! After having an amazing time at the 54th IPSF Congress in Romania and being elected as a SEC member, I started this year with greater enthusiasm, and it even increased when I found out what an amazing team is SEC. We’ve been working on so many new ideas to improve SEP in every possible way.

Meeting so many new people from all around the world on a daily basis is a great adventure that lasts for years! Greetings from Poland,

Dear friends of IPSF, I am Kerstin Heyder from Germany.

I finished my Pharmacy degree at the University of Jena, Germany, last year. Right now I am doing my compulsory internship at a community pharmacy in Frankfurt. I’ve been a member of the IPSF Student Exchange Committee for 2 years.

Some of you may know me from my time as SEO for BPhD Germany during SEP year 2007-08. Being involved in IPSF has turned out to be a little hobby of mine. Once I joined in, I never wanted to leave! It has been 3 years from now when I got infected with the IPSF spirit at my first IPSF Congress in Cairns, Australia, back in 2006 and, since then, it has been an amazing time with many incredible moments that I do not want to miss.

I am really happy that I decided to do more than just university stuff and I would recommend it to everyone who is interested in helping to improve pharmacy education worldwide and in broadening their horizons. Let the IPSF spirit catch you!

Yours in IPSF,

YP Poland

BPhD Germany

Hi, I´m Tomás Valena from Slovakia. I’ve just finished my 4th year of Master studies at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, and have experienced a magical year 2009. But I should start from the beginning, because there is a point when IPSF got me. I started to be involved with IPSF after summer 2007, when I spent a great time on SEP in Serbia. Then I realized that was what I had always wanted -connecting people from all over the world to cooperate together. With this IPSF spirit I joined SPSA Slovakia afterwards and started to spread this feeling among friends and students. After a month, I was elected Chairperson of Foreign Affairs and SEO for SPSA Slovakia. I had great responsibility but, on reward, I got lots of joy, huge portion of experiences and the biggest of all lifelong friendships. This year has been even better, but also really busy: SEC member, SEO, SPSA member and also experiencing Erasmus exchange in Barcelona, Spain. Brilliant! We have already accomplished a lot and that pushes me forward and further, but there is still a huge space for improvement. This is the right way. Try it, experience it, you´ll never forget it. May the IPSF spirit be with you!

SPSA Slovakia

My name is Bálint Tóth, a third-year student from the southern part of beautiful Hungary. I am the SEO of my country (literally just taking a break from partying with the exchange students while writing this), also I have the pleasure to be part of this year’s amazing SEC, as well as helping to create the 60th Anniversary History Book and chip in with the Humanitarian SC and my national association too. It first started in 2007 for me when I volunteered to be a helper for the exchange students in Budapest and it got me immediately! Since then, the famous IPSF spirit took me on to experience some of the best moments of my life, from educating locals in rural Ghana on drug awareness to meeting up with newly found friends for tapas and cider in Madrid, you name it! All in all I would like to encourage everyone to be a part of this great group of friends, I can say, SEC is. You will not regret it. Vive la pharmacie, vive la IPSF! HuPSA Hungary.

I am Francis Sixtus Banyi from Ghana. On 29th April 2009, I completed my Pharmacy degree at the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. Currently, I am waiting to begin my compulsory internship program by the first week of October 2009 at a hospital pharmacy in Akosombo, Ghana. I am a member of the IPSF Student Exchange Committee. Quite a number of you might know me from when I was the SEO and CP for GPSA Ghana between November 2006 and December 2008. For the past 3 years, I have had an unbelievable experience with IPSF. I have had the opportunity to make really good friends worldwide who are all in favour of the need to promote pharmacy education and practice around the globe. I highly recommend IPSF to anyone; not only pharmacy students and young pharmacists but also to other professionals to get on board this train to promote pharmacy education and practice. Warm regards from Ghana,

GPSA Ghana

Newsletter Designed By :

Amr Sobhy Chariperson of Media and Publications 2009-10

If you have any question , Do not hesitate to contact us at publications@ipsf.org or ipsf@ipsf.org