Scholarships and opportunities
We continue to support our members by providing scholarship and grant opportunities for the early career pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists and educators for the annual FIP world congress with the FIP Foundation! For detailed information and the application procedures of other grants and scholarships, please visit the Foundation website here.
What happened at the previous FIP world congress (2024)
ECPG was proud to have organised, chaired and facilitated a number of sessions and events at the 2024 FIP world congress in Cape Town. These included:
- AI and chatbots in healthcare session
- Development of merchandise in collaboration with the FIP Foundation
- Digital Technologies for Non-Communicable Diseases session
- FIP Foundation Programme and Awards Presentation
- Generative AI Summit
- Humanitarian Pharmacy Hackathon
- International Humanitarian Law session
- 5th Leadership Development Workshop
- Meet and Greet session
- Social events: Welcome Night, International Night, South African Night, ECPG Social Night
Leadership Development Workshop
As part of the pre-congress sessions, FIP ECPG held the 5th Leadership Development Workshop in collaboration with the FIP Academic Pharmacy Section and the FIP Foundation. This event brought together aspiring young leaders and pharmaceutical professionals from all over the world. The event featured dynamic sessions from experienced speakers on various topics including leadership and innovation in healthcare, ethical leadership, leadership Styles, and empowering pharmacy leaders to strengthen community engagement.
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5th FIP ECPG Leadership Development Workshop |
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Generative AI Summit The Generative AI Summit aimed to educate and empower early career pharmacists on the different ways they can use AI to enhance their practice. The summit was facilitated by Florencia Ojeda, a machine learning engineer from Uruguay and a member of the FIP AI Working Group. The half-day programme featured a theoretical component, introducing core concepts of large language models, followed by a hands-on practical component.
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Generative AI Summit |
Humanitarian Pharmacy Hackathon
This year’s hackathon was centred on humanitarian pharmacy. The aim of the hackathon was to showcase the various roles pharmacists can have in supporting humanitarian efforts during crises. The hackathon engaged early career pharmacists with the FIP humanitarian goals and explored ideas for projects on this topic. The panel consisted of 3 experts (FIP representative and 2 humanitarian pharmacists) who provided feedback to the attendees.
Humanitarian Pharmacy Hackathon
Meet & Greet with ECPG
ECPG held meet and greet networking sessions at the ECPG booth during the congress tea breaks. This was a great opportunity to network with fellow early career professionals, alumni members of ECPG, and representatives from national and regional early career pharmaceutical organisations from across the world. Exclusive souvenir pharmacist pins were handed out and many connections were formed.
Meet and Greet at the ECPG booth
Social events
ECPG organised and hosted an International Night on 1 September at the FIP 2024 world congress. At this event, participants representing each country and showcased their local traditions, whether it be through a traditional song and dance, or through sharing fun facts about their country. Participants were able to try food and drinks from different countries, including a selection of South African food. It was a perfect setting for catching up with old friends and making new ones.
On 2 September, there was a South African night co-hosted by the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa’s Young Pharmacists’ Group and the FIP ECPG. It was intended to provide entertainment to early career pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists who may not have had the opportunity to attend section dinners.
It was hosted at a popular food market known as the Mojo Market in Sea Point. There was a wide variety of food and drink options, from sushi, shawarma, burgers, pizza, ribs, gelato, you name it. It was truly a night to remember!
International Night
On 4 September, the ECPG Steering Committee organised a social night for all early career pharmacists at the Quay Four Restaurant at the Waterfront in Cape Town. Participants got to form new connections through a networking bingo and enjoyed drinks, snacks and dancing. The event was a success and was well-attended by many.
ECPG-facilitated congress sessions
- ECPG president, Emmanuella Nzeribe chaired the “AI and chatbots in health care” session at the FIP 2024 world congress.
- ECPG member relations coordinator and 2024 PSSA YPG President, Ntombizodwa Luwaca, chaired a session on “Digital Technologies for Non-Communicable Diseases”.
- ECPG Military and Emergency Pharmacy Section liaison, Lucas Ercolin, chaired the session on International Humanitarian Law.
- ECPG FIP Foundation liaison, Jelena Lugic, chaired the FIP Foundation Programme session where the early career scholarships and grant recipients were presented.
Annual report
The ECPG annual report 2024 is available here.
Strategic Plan
ECPG officially launched its Strategic Plan 2023-2030 in a digital event on 13 December 2023. The Strategic Plan details key strategic priorities that will help to inform and set the goals ahead for early career pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, and educators globally. You can read the Strategic Plan here.
Webinars, digital events and networking events
The ECPG has organised and/or collaborated in many digital events in recent years. Some of the recent virtual events are shared below.
- FIP ECPG Strategic Plan 2023-2030 Launch: Setting the Goals Ahead for the Early Career Pharmacists, Pharmaceutical Scientists and Educators Globally. The recording of the webinar can be accessed by ECPG members through this link.
- Developing a high-quality research proposal – FIP Foundation and ECPG Professional Innovation Grant. The recording of the webinar can be accessed by ECPG members through this link.
- Learn, grow and develop: Opportunities for personal and professional growth with ECPG. The recording of the webinar can be accessed by ECPG members through this link.
- Learn, grow and develop – Part 2: A curriculo preview with ECPG. The recording of the webinar can be accessed by ECPG members through this link.
Guidelines and Resources
ECPG has authored many guidelines and resources to support early career pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. You can find the list of full ECPG publications in the FIP Library here. Some recent guidelines include the:
- Guideline for establishing an early career pharmaceutical organisation
- Alumni Guidelines
- Guideline on how to become an ECPG member
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