HLM Interviews: Jorge Schlottke

Start by telling us a little bit about yourself.

I am a pharmacist graduated from the Universidad Nacional de San Luis in 2015. I work in the Oncologic Center of San Luis and I am IVPN ambassador in Argentina.

How did you become interested in IPSF?

It was in 2012 when I was looking for some opportunities for pharmacy students. I found the IPSF WC in Egypt fan page on Facebook and I immediately fell in love with IPSF. I decided to share the idea of IPSF with some mates and we created AEFRA, the Asociación de Estudiantes de Farmacia de la República Argentina. A year later we presented our association to the IPSF GA during the WC in Utrecht and since that moment to the date our association has been involved with the federation. I can highlight the IPSF PARS of 2015 that we organized in San Luis and the WC that we organized in Mendoza in 2018.

What IPSF positions did you hold?

PARO- RRO 2013-14 PARS Chairperson 2015 PARO Chairperson 2015-2016 WC General Advisor 2018 HLM since 2018

What did you learn from your IPSF involvement?

I learned many things, related and not related to the pharmacy profession. First of all I had to learn and improve my English. I learned to use digital tools like skype, google drive, Dropbox and many other software. I learned about project management, team work, smart goals and events organization. Also the relation with many colleagues from all over the world gave me a new view of the globe, the cultures, religions and traditions, how different they are, but at the same time how close we can be through IPSF.

How did the skills you obtained from your IPSF involvement help you with your personal and professional life?

I continue to use many tools and learnings that I got during my 6 years full involvement on IPSF. The language, the online job, the tips and tricks for good international communication, the e-learning and the leadership tools that we learned during the LIT programs.

Do you think IPSF influenced your career path? Please explain how.

Yes it did. It was very important to get some achievements like being part of the staff of the FIP WC in Buenos Aires in 2016 and the involvement with IVPN at this moment.

Can you describe how the global COVID-19 pandemic affected your career this past year?

It did not affect my daily work at all. It was almost the same. The only thing that changed was the use of PPE for instance, face masks and the use of alcohol gel among others. As pharmacists we are in the front line against this pandemic and we have to keep there, always for the service of our communities.

What lessons did we learn from the current pandemic and how does the empower us as a profession?

We learned that e-learning is possible (although it does not replace 100% the face to face meeting) and it is a big tool for equity in the access to knowledge. It makes us closer than we actually are. We learned to value the importance of the little things like the meetings with our families and friends that, because the pandemic,