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Starting a Movement at NAPSA Congress – by Cassandra Lee and John Quinn

Pharmacy

“The National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association (NAPSA) welcomed over 350 pharmacy students to their annual Congress from January 24th to January 30th. Students gathered to celebrate the progression of the future and learnt how they are the forefront of change, with delegates coming from as far away as Tasmania and Western Australia, from 19 universities. The week gave many a great opportunity to network and meet students from around Australia.

2015 NAPSA Congress delegates – Photo by Christian Nimri

With a strong opening from NAPSA Alumni, Daniel Rifkin, on creating a movement the scene was set for a challenging week. With leadership and future practice as the key focus, students were inspired by education sessions from a great array of speakers from many different fields. Keynote speaker Rhonda White AO, co-founder of Terry White Chemists, motivated students to “Go Fetch the Future”. Whilst other notable speakers included Grant Kardachi, PSA President; Lindy Swain, rural pharmacist and Pharmacist of the Year 2014; Dr. Lisa Nissen, Chris Campbell and Tim Logan who spoke about the future of pharmacists’ immunising; and SHPA President Prof Michael Dooley who highlighted the futures of clinical practice.

NAPSA executive committee with Rhonda and Terry White – photo by Christian Nimri

National President Sam Turner said, “The amount of change in the industry is challenging, but at the same time very exciting as there are more opportunities than ever for pharmacists to be greater involved in health care.”

“Students are excited about future prospects and they want to be involved. It was important to foster this at NAPSA Congress and I believe we’ve done so. We’ve created a movement.”

Students were also challenged to talk to patients about the things “nobody wants to talk about” and explored topics such as erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence and sexually transmitted disease testing in Pharmacy which provided a great opportunity for puns on Twitter.

Throughout the week students raised money for the Pharmacists’ Support Service (PSS) by running a Trivia night, silent auction and raffle throughout the course of the event. NAPSA are pleased to announce the final amount raised was over $5300 that will go toward the support PSS provides pharmacists, pharmacy interns and pharmacy students throughout Australia every day of the year.

Another highlight of the week was the Industry Trade Show on the 28th of January where 28 industry exhibits provided valuable time for students to network with professionals amongst the industry.

The final event of the week was the Gala Ball where a plethora of awards were given. William Caddy from the University of Western Australia was awarded both Spirit of Congress and NAPSA Wildcard entry into the Pharmacy Student of the Year competition. Pharmers’ Society Wagga Wagga was awarded the Vampire Cup Award, while PhUNE (University of New England) received the Vampire Cup Young Blood Award. James Cook University Pharmacy Students’ Association (JCUPSA) took out the Les Cashen Perpetual NAPSA Trophy for Best Branch. Tyler Fenton (University of Tasmania) was recognised for his contribution to the education program and the Organising Committee Appreciation Award was given to Onur Karatas (Griffith University) for his great effort in assisting the committee throughout the week.

NAPSA congress gala ball 2015 – photo by Christian Nimri

I would also like to thank the sponsors, volunteers and delegates for their ongoing dedication and support and the invaluable dedication of the Gold Coast Congress Organising Committee to create the movement that is NAPSA Congress. I would like to acknowledge: Tanika Neville (Vice-Organising Chair), Sally-Anne Knowles (Treasurer), Chloe Marchmont (Secretary), Rebecca Pryce (Education Chair), Brittany Armstrong and Katarina Crouch (Social Chairs), John Quinn (Publications Chair), Tanya Cook (Registrations Chair), Ally Barford (Volunteers Chair) and Melanie Durso (Logistics Chair) for their hardwork over the past year and a half to bring NAPSA Congress to life.

Organising committee with sponsors and NAPSA executive – photo by Christian Nimri

Next year’s NAPSA Congress will be hosted at James Cook University Townsville with final dates TBA.

Cassandra Lee (Organising Chair) and John Quinn (Publications Chair)”

The NAPSA Congress photographer was Christian Nimri. You can find him on Facebook here.

And for those of you who weren’t there, here are some of the highlights from Twitter. Sleepcam was out in force, there were lots of comments about Daniel Rifkin’s facial hair, talk of going rural and money raised for the Pharmacist’s Support Service:

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