THE Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) and the National Australian Pharmacy Students' Association (NAPSA) have announced a raft of new projects to support the next generation of pharmacists, technicians and pharmacy assistants.
The initiatives were revealed over the weekend at the NAPSA Congress Sydney 2018, where SHPA president Professor Michael Dooley together with NAPSA president Sandra Minas announced a joint student symposium to be held in Melbourne in Jul to coincide with NAPSA's annual general meeting.
Plans also include a student-focused issue of Pharmacy Growth, Research, Innovation and Training (GRIT), SHPA's member publication, and a new research study focusing on baseline benchmarking of the prevalence and quality of pharmacy student hospital placements in Australia, the results of which will feature in this special issue released ahead of the symposium.
Dooley says the joint symposium will complement existing initiatives equipping Australian students for the evolving and dynamic world of hospital pharmacy.
"The symposium's three themes of exploring career paths, planning practitioner development and entering the world of research will provide a strong foundation for entry into hospital pharmacy, the preferred destination for 44% of Australia's pharmacy students," Dooley explained.
NAPSA president Sandra Minas says the special student-focus issue ahead of the July symposium, will reinforce Pharmacy GRIT's role as a valuable platform for publishing early student research.
"NAPSA is also excited about the new joint Workforce Study as it will provide essential quantitative and qualitative data on how hospital placements are currently accessed and experienced by students, to ensure this pivotal experiential learning is as valuable as possible," Minas enthused.
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