NAPSA is proud to bring you the first of many E-Newsletters… “These newsletters are aimed at keeping each of our 4000 members in touch with what is happening and update you with all the latest from NAPSA” Paul Buise – National President.

NAPSA Congress Update – Perth 2009

Evolution
–
Look to the future

Look forward to spectacular events such as: the Welcome Party overlooking the Swan River, Unique and challenging education sessions, NAPSA Pub Crawl through iconic Fremantle, Australia Day Carnival-styles Festivities, NAPSA Ball at the Perth Convention Centre… and the return of the Battle of the Branches!

Information packages will be arriving at your branch soon, so listen up to your NAPSA Representatives for further details. Registrations are set to open in April so be prepared to fight for your spot to attend. Get in early and get the cheap flights!!

PSOTY Wildcard winner – James from QPSA!

James (middle) and the PSOTY wildcard finalists accepting their certificates and a free AMH 08!

Each year, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, with support from Alphapharm, holds the Pharmacy Student of the Year (PSOTY) Counselling Competition which sees the best pharmacy student from each state compete for national recognition. In addition to each state having a finalist, NAPSA has its own student wildcard entry who is chosen at our annual NAPSA Congress, held this year in Sydney.

James Grant from QPSA at the University of Queensland is this year’s NAPSA Wildcard entrant and will represent NAPSA at this year’s Pharmacy Australia Congress (PAC) to be held in Perth in October. The stiff competition was held in front of over 200 pharmacy students in Sydney. Well done to all students who competed.

I’d like to encourage all students to get involved and participate in the PSOTY Counselling Competition, being held at next year NAPSA Congress in Perth.

Congratulations to James and the other finalists!

2008 National Student Business Plan Competition

Will you be the Pharmacy Student Entrepreneur of 2008?

Here is the winning team from GUAPS, Griffith University, pictured with Judith Liauw and Kos Sclavos

With over $15,000 in cash and prizes, the winning team will present their vision for the future of pharmacy in August at the annual Pharmacy Women’s Congress in Melbourne.

The competition was launched at the NAPSA Conference in January 2008 and once again is open to all 16 pharmacy schools in Australia.

The competition aims to encourage pharmacy students to consider how they would go about structuring their own pharmacy business, producing a blueprint of that vision in the form of a business plan and ultimately, promote entrepreneurship in the community pharmacy environment.

For more information visit the NAPSA website, www.napsa.org.au and follow the Business Plan Competition Link.

RARPOP: For Rural Pharmacy Placements

Want to undertake a rural placement? Until now there has been no comprehensive resource available for pharmacy students to go to when choosing a rural placement. NAPSA now has the opportunity to contribute to the Rural and Remote Pharmacy Orientation Package Website, www.rarpop.com.au.

RARPOP is a website that provides town profiles and pharmacy details for pharmacy students to consider when choosing a rural placement.

You can contribute to this website by filling out a form developed by NAPSA whist on your rural placement and the information can then be uploaded on to the website. This creates a contemporary resource for all future students seeking a rural placement with a difference.

Contact your rural and indigenous health representative or myself for a copy of the form or check out the website!

Samantha Wieringa
s.wieringa@napsa.org.au
Rural and Indigenous Health Committee Chair

Results of NPSS Online 07:

• The two most popular NAPSA benefits are Social Events (29%) and Discounted Textbooks (26%).
• The majority of students (18%) want to become pharmacy owners, followed closely by 16% for both community pharmacy managers and hospital pharmacists.
• 89% of respondents would recommend pharmacy as a career to others.
• Local metropolitan placements are preferred by most students (29%) but local rural placements were more popular than interstate metropolitan placements with 21% and 13% of students respectively.
• 25% of respondents are concerned about the potential deregulation of pharmacy ownership and other ownership issues. Many expressed specific concerns regarding supermarket ownership of pharmacies and the trend toward ‘warehouse’ and ‘discount’ pharmacies.

A complete report of all results and analyses will be released by NAPSA in the coming months, so keep an eye out! In the meantime, if you have any questions about these results or any other Industrial Affairs issues, please email the IA Committee Chair Alex Phillips at a.phillips@napsa.org.au

Missing your Placebo?

You can find the latest copy of Placebo as well as past issues on our publications page on the website. For more information please check it out here…

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  The Pharmacy Guild
• The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
• Pharmaceutical Defence Ltd