Programme by Topic
The Congress Programme will touch on eight main topics with several sessions throughout. These topics range from medicines and the healthcare team of the future, ensuring the safe and responsible use of medicines, the future medicines supply chain and and how best to contribute to the healthcare economy of the future.
Click the links below to visit the pages that list the Sessions within each Topic.
A. Nurturing the soul of pharmacy
The building blocks of the pharmacy practitioner are first laid down with training of students and continue into professional life. Students will inevitably be instilled with the science and principles of practice - going hand in hand to provide a solid basis for the cognitive development of the student towards becoming a competent pharmacist.
Professionalisation of the pharmacy student, however, requires more than acquiring basic knowledge. A profession is defined not only by its expert body of knowledge. It is also about the recognition and upholding of professional values - in the adoption of attitudes and behaviours that shape a profession and a professional. As pharmacists, we are to maintain a standard of behaviour reflective of expectations of contemporary practice, patient-centred care and the trust placed in us by the people and communities we serve.
Developing these values and behaviours necessitates consideration of different perspectives: the student (motivation, expectations, experience and reality); the educator (competency development, professionalisation); the practitioner (role model, motivation and attitude); the patient (expectations, trust and ethical demands).
To nurture the soul of pharmacy we need to explore the role of the academic institution, professional organisations and practitioners in shaping the core values and purpose of the profession. In doing so, we need to explore opportunities and challenges to its core elements.
The plenary session provided insight into what is the soul of pharmacy. For the soul of pharmacy to be sustained and advanced, it is essential to nurture — grow, cultivate, develop and cherish - it continuously.
