Double Coup at Medway School of Pharmacy Freshers' Week
September 2011
New students at Medway School of Pharmacy had an impressive introduction to the profession during Induction Week this year. Not one, but two national pharmacy leaders made guest appearances at the School.
On the Wednesday, students were treated to a talk from the Department of Health's National Clinical Director for Primary Care and Community Pharmacy, Mr. Jonathan Mason. Only two of the government's thirty National Clinical Directors for health (the so-called health Tsars) are pharmacists, all the others being doctors. Mr. Mason gave a talk entitled 'Pharmacy in life and Life in pharmacy' explaining how pharmacists use their knowledge of science and pharmacy practice to optimise medicines and help people live healthy lives. This talk really enthused the students, leading not only to many keen questions at the end, but also to a steady crowd around Mr. Mason after the talk to ask him further questions.
Students appeared not only engaged but fascinated by Mr. Mason's talk in which he took them through his own experiences and widely varied career path from childhood visits to his father's pharmacy, via being a young pharmacy undergraduate student, to being at the very pinnacle of the pharmacy ladder. Mr. Mason's ability to relate to 'freshers' whilst demonstrating enthusiasm not only for his own position but also for the role of the pharmacy profession and the developing role of the pharmacist in years to come, was of particular relevance and interest. He certainly conveyed to our new students the meaning of a world class profession which they are aspiring to join.
The following day students were also able to hear Mrs. Lindsey Gilpin, chair of the English National Pharmacy Board of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS). Mrs. Gilpin talked about the role of the pharmacists' professional leadership body, the RPS, and enthusiastically conveyed the value of the RPS's role to both students and qualified pharmacists.
Mrs. Gilpin explained the support, guidance and professional leadership that the RPS offers to pharmacists, thus conveniently linking into what Mr. Mason had said the previous day, and expressing a very positive outlook for the future of the pharmacy profession. This helped students to appreciate the benefits of early membership of the RPS, together with the associated membership of the British Pharmacy Students' Association (BPSA). Many students signed up for free membership there and then.
After Mrs. Gilpin, talks by local BPSA representatives and members of our own, award winning, Medway Pharmacy Students' Association (MPSA) put things into an even more student orientated context.
The efforts of the Induction Week Co-ordinator, Mr. Jerome Durodie, to secure the services of these two pharmacy leaders certainly helped to give the school's new students a great start to their time at Medway School of Pharmacy.
