APRO Newsletter, Issue 7

APROAsia Pacific Regional Office

Since its birth in Singapore in 2001, IPSF-APRO endeavours to represent pharmacy students across the Asia Pacific in over 10 countries. Our purpose is to support and advance the aims and objectives of the Federation at the regional level.

Asia Pacific Regional Office | Newsletter Asia Pacific Regional Office | Newsletter

Title xxx APRO Regional Working Group 2012-2013Sub-title (if any) Introduction1 2

September2012 IssueNo7 Students today, Pharmacists tomorrow

Geoffrey ChaiChairperson

IntroductionAPRO Regional Working Group 2012-2013

When did you first become active with APRO?My first exposure to IPSF was when I attended the national congress in Australia. During one of the workshops the CP of NAPSA (National Australian Pharmacy Students Association) was promoting IPSF activities and events. From there I found inspiration to join an international platform of meeting students from across the Asia Pacific and across the world.

What year are you currently in?I have currently finished Pharmacy, but am undergoing registration in Singapore.

Favourite subject of pharmacy?Pharmacy Practice. The reason for this is because I was able to apply clinical knowledge that I learnt to patients and real life scenarios as Pharmacy Practice gave everyone an opportunity to undergo externships in community and hospital pharmacy.

What country/city would you love to live in? Australia, because it is my home

What helped you to run for your APRO –RWG position?First time, Geoff Chai! He is a very influential person … second time, my own desire and the fact that I loved being on the RWG the first time

What year are you currently in?As a pharmacist, I have graduated but I an now studying for a double Masters in Public Health and in International Health

If I didn’t become a pharmacist, I would be instead … ?Realistically, a historian but ideally, a food critic or travel writer

Favourite season?Summer

Christina ChoSecretary


APRO Regional Working Group 2012-2013 APRO Regional Working Group 2012-2013Introduction Introduction3 4


Exaudi EbennezerInternal Coordinator and Communication Officer

Dyani Nabyla Widyaputri Regional Relations Officer

Marika Yamada Chairperson Of 12th APPS - Japan

Lee Meng San (Dora Lee)Regional Projects Officer

What year are you currently in?Fourth year (the final year)

What made you choose pharmacy as a career?When I was a kid, my dream was to be a doctor and when they asked why, I always answered “to help poor people who can’t pay the bill”. During junior high school, I didn’t want to be a doctor anymore but a musician instead. By chance, I chose to study pharmacy. After 2 years study at university, I found my passion was to learn more about medications and interacting will patients.

What country/city would you love to live in?Tarutung, a small city in North Sumatera Indonesia, because I don’t like crowds nor traffic jams.

One goal you wish to achieve in your term as a RWG member?I wish for more people to enjoy reading APRO Newsletter .

What helped you to run for your APRO –RWG position?I have so many things; Indonesian delegates supported me to run this position, my big passion for IPSF, and my family. As I also have worked for the federation as CP and APRO IPSF Regional Relations Officer subcommittee, this gave me courage to run for Regional Relations Officer position in this term!

What university are you studying in?Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)

One word to describe yourself?Spontaneous

Favourite season?Indonesia only have two seasons… I’d rather choose rainy season!

Zodiac sign?Snake/Virgo

When did you first become active with APRO?I saw what IPSF is in the World Congress in 2011 first time. The experience made me really inspired because all the participants have high spirits. That year was also memorial year because APS-Japan was elected to host of the APPS 2013. After a brief interval, I was selected to this position; the Chairperson of APPS 2013. I started to organize for the symposium.

What year are you currently in?5 grade.

What made you choose pharmacy as a career? I have 3 points about that. First, my mother is a pharmacist. Second, I love herbs, plants, and nature. Finally, during junior high my grandmother passed away due to cancer and although I wanted to help her, all I could do was pray. Thus, I wanted to become a pharmacist.

Zodiac sign?Horse/Leo

What helped you to run for your APRO –RWG position?Taiwanese people encouraged me to run during 2012 APPS-Taiwan, I am glad to say we’ve made it. I don’t want to stop this magic and I believe I can keep pushing myself to see where my limits are. Plus, being elected RPO fulfilled my year plan with a cherry on top.

Favourite subject of pharmacy?Pharmacotherapy

If I didn’t become a pharmacist, I would be instead … ?A musician.

11th Asia PacificPharmaceutical Symposium

Taiwan


11th APPS Taiwan 11th APPS TaiwanReport Report5 6


The 11th Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium (APPS) was held in Taipei, Taiwan from 3rd - 9th July 2012. The organiser of this event was PSA-Taiwan , consisting of seven pharmacy schools; National Taiwan Uni-versity (NTU), Taipei Medical University (TMU), National Defence Medical Centre (NDMC), China Medical University (CMU), Chia-Nan University of Pharmacy & Science (CNU), Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU), and Tajen University (TJU), which represents over 4000 pharmaceutical students. PSA-Taiwan is recognised by the MOI (Ministry of Internal Affairs) as an approved legal organisation in Taiwan. The main university respon-sible for organisation was Taipei Medical University (TMU), and the theme of the 11th APPS was ‘Drug safety and Pharmaceutical Responsibility Education. We would like to say thank-you to the 260 participants from 14 countries that attended the 2012 APPS in Taipei, Taiwan.

To be the host of 11th APPS 2012, representatives of PSA-Taiwan, Cathy and Henry, went to the 9th APPS 2010 Korea, and fortunately we had been accepted. It was a day never to be forgotten – it was so exciting ,and ever since then, Henry has been practicing his English every day. After returning to Taiwan, the first thing we did was to build the APPS committee. We made a team consisting of nearly 100 students from across all Taiwanese universities as the Reception Committee, 10 lecturers as mentors to form the Steering Committee, and two Vice-Chairpersons to help Henry, who was elected as Chairperson of APPS.

During APPS we held 5 parallel symposium’s- The new version of community pharmacy services: home de-livery service of chronic illness prescriptions, role of pharmacists in long-term care and telecare cooperation, ‘Drug Relief System’ —talking about Taiwanese experience, drug-drug, drug-herb and drug-food interaction, counterfeited drug identification techniques and prevention methods. We wanted all participants to be able to choose a topic in which they were interested in and discussions were aside after each presentation.

APPS hosted numerous eucational events such as academic symposiums, pharmaceutical workshops, Phar-macy Counselling Event (PCE) and Clinical Skills Event (CSE) competition as well as promoting a fantastic social environment with visits to culturally significant sights and organising the annual APPS gala ball.

As part of the cultural tour of Taiwan, on day 3 of APPS, we visited the National Palace Museum and Pinghsi to experience the traditional sky lanterns. At night, hundreds of pharmacy students from across the Asia-Pacific region wrote down their wishes on sky lanterns, which were then released into the night sky. These lanterns were sent with our dreams and in the spirit of friendship.

Symposium I

We held two presentations by Yoa-Pu Hu and Hsueh-Yung Tai. The topic of the first presentation was “Pharmacist responsibilities to society”, and the other was “Drug safety and pharmaceutical”. These inspired the attendees and during discussion time, a lot of different opinions and ideas were shared.

Symposium II

It was our honour to invite Professor Dr. Mohamed Azmi Hassali to deliver his presentation on ‘Medication safety beyond hospital: the role of pharmacist’ and Pharm. D., Angela On to teach us how to build a safer drug usage environment for the public. Through the two speakers, we learnt that being a pharmacist gave us a great duty in teaching the public how to use medications correctly.

Symposium III

In this symposium we were happy to invite Professor Sui Yung Chan of the National University of Singapore to share with us pharmacy education across the Asia-Pacific. We also invited Professor Yea-Huei Kao Yang to teach us about ‘Reforming pharmacy education to meet the social need’. Thanks to two speakers, we learnt more about the differences of pharmacy education between every country and how pharmacy education can be improved for future generations.

Campaign

We held a parade from Taipei Medical University to a plaza near Taipei 101, where our campaign was held in Chianti Road Plaza. Taipei Pharmacist Association and the Reception Committee hosted this campaign. For the campaign we were given a special mission of conducting a survey on the public, asking them how they would use a particular medication and once completed, we received signatures.

Being the host of 11th APPS 2012 was the first experience of myself andour committee of holding an international event and it was quite a difficult challenge for me. We hope that APPS was an excellent experience for all pharmaceutical students and that they will never forget in APPS 2012 in Taiwan. Although our English may not be fluent but we hope to show our tremendous passion and hospitality for all of the participants.

Thank you to the Reception Committee of 11th APPS 2012 for working hard with me during these two years despite their ultra busy days as students. Especially, I would like to say thank you to the 16 executives who are in their graduating year (They have to take their license test 10 days post-APPS). Without you, we could not host such a succesful APPS 2012.

CHU,WEI-HUA

11th APPS Chairperson 2012

Republic of China(Taiwan)

Asia Pacific Regional Office | Newsletter

APRO Regional Working Group 2012-2013Introduction 4



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day 4 day 5


Asia Pacific Regional Office | Newsletter

APRO Regional Working Group 2012-2013Introduction 4



Patient Counselling Event 2012 Patient Counselling Event 201215 16


PatientCounselling Event 2012

As pharmacists we are the experts in medicines. Communicating information to our patients about their medications is therefore an integral part of being a pharmacist; because if we don’t do it, who will?! I was lucky enough to have the chance to participate in the Patient Counselling Event (PCE) at the recent APPS in Taiwan and it brought a wealth of opportunity to me as a pharmacy student.

To me, getting a case and trying to find the solution and prepare the answer is an exciting problem-solving process. First I have to understand the patient and their condition, and understand the treatment options myself. Then I take time to think, what would it be like in the patient’s shoes? How would I be feeling if I saw this medication for the first time? I consider their age, their background and their medical history to tailor the type of words I use, the amount of information to give and the pace to give it to them. Planning a logical sequence is also highly important! I have a standard sequence that I check off in my head as I go through the information. Most of all, I treat my patients with respect and don’t belittle them. Conversation is always two-way so listening for their responses and reading cues, for example a puzzled look, is always helpful!

Winning PCE was a great honour and became one of my significant achievements. It was rewarding to share with everyone at APPS the importance of pharmacy counselling skills, and get feedback from experts in the field. Being invited to help with the next PCE is also an opportunity to give back to IPSF to help promote training in communication skills. Not to mention that when being interviewed for graduate jobs, it gave me something unique to talk about – employees are always intrigued when I mention participating in an event on an international level!

PCE was a fun and challenging experience and I really encourage everyone to have a go. If you find that fear is a barrier, don’t be afraid! We all make mistakes and can learn from them. (Also, it’s better in this environment than in real life working situation, right?) Even if you don’t want to counsel in front of the APPS audience, practice when you can – at university, at work, to friends and family. The reputation of a pharmacist is on the line every time you interact with a patient, because remember: we are the medicine experts.

Finally, congratulations to all my fellow PCE participants, and thank you to IPSF for the wonderful opportunity! Look forward to seeing everyone in Japan for APPS 2013!

Amanda WeeSydney, Australia


SEP Experience SEP ExperienceBEM KMFA UGM BEM KMFA UGM17 18


SEP in BEM KMFA UGM

IndonesiaBEM KMFA UGM started its involvement with Student Exchange Program (SEP) from 2009 with one incoming

student from Iran. Since then we have aimed to invite more students to come and to also encourage our students to go abroad. In 2011 for the first time we sent one of our students to Germany and we also received one student from Poland. In 2012, we are happy to welcome eight incoming students ranging from United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Malaysia, Poland and Jordan.

Outgoing student

In July 2012 we sent one of our student to in Pingtung, Taiwan for a month to experience hospital pharmacy. Despite the language difference, she was thrilled to expand her knowledge and to also meet new friends. Thanks for the local committee and the SEO!

Incoming students

In 2012 we have received eight incoming students, of which we received three students in July and five students in September. Five students worked in pharmacy and three students were accepted to take part in research for use of natural herbs in treating acne and in cancer chemoprevention.

All of our incoming students lived with a local family or a host family. The purpose was to give the students the experience of being a member of an Indonesian family.

Students were also given the opportunity to visit herbal industries within the city and we also hosted ‘International Month’ in which our exchange friends were invited to share their experiences of pharmacy from their home country to our Indonesian students.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up for SEP and fly to experience living with a local family and experience an internship in research or pharmacy in Yogyakarta, Indonesia!

Deni KrisnamurtiStudent Exchange Officer

BEM KMFA UGM, Indonesia


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SEP in BEMHMF ITBIndonesia

SEP inBEM USDIndonesia

This year, HMF-ITB Indonesia participated in IPSF Students Exchange Programme (SEP). We advertised for SEP to both internal (in our association) and external (to another association) students, using publication materials such as posters and presentations. In 2012, we had 5 outgoing students as well as 5 in-coming students.

SEP was divided into 2 period, with the first intake of students being held from 1-30 July 2012. We had 2 students (from Serbia and Slovenia) that worked in our pharmacology and biotechnology laboratory in ITB. The second intake was held from 1-30 August 2012. We had 2 students (from Germany) that worked in a hospital and 1 student who worked in our laboratory.

During the exchange programme, we also held events including our welcome party, International Night and the final presentation. During the welcome party, we presented our traditional dance and traditional food. International Night was held mid-term, in which our host students were invited to share their traditional food and dance with our students. At the end of their stay, the students were invited to present their report to our lecturer and supervisor, on what they achieved during their stay with us. Additionally, on the weekends we often accompanied our host students to different areas in or around Bandung, such as Volcano Mountain, White crater, Saung Angklung and Ciater.

Overall, we were thrilled with what we have achieved so far, for both our incoming and outgoing students and we hope that next year will be just as successful.

Anita PermatasariStudent Exchange OfficerBEM HMF ITB, Indonesia

BEMF-USD, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

During 30th July – 28th August, 2012, our faculty received 2 foreign students from the Czech Republic. The SEP committee designed a schedule for the incoming students as well as providing accommodation. The students completed their internship in a pharmacy in our faculty and at Bethesda Hospital, each for a period of 2 weeks. Beside the internship, we also visited an industry of traditional and herbal medicine so that the students could improve their pharmacy knowledge. During the tour, the students saw the producing process, and they were offered the opportunity to participate in making traditional medicines. To further enrich their stay in Indonesia, the students and the committee travelled around Yogyakarta on the weekend or days off, visiting a lot of interesting places, such us famous temples in Yogyakarta and Central Java (Prambanan and Borobudur), historical sites including Kraton Yogyakarta (Sultan’s palace) and Malioboro beaches.

From the feedback we received from the exchange students, they loved to work in Sanata Dharma Pharmacy and Bethesda Hospital, especially in the hospital ICU. They learned a lot from all departments and the provided services to patients, and they also experienced the difference in pharmacy practice between their home country and Indonesia. Previously they have never experienced traditional and herbal medicine first-hand and they liked it because it is a different approach than modern medicine. Overall, they enjoyed their time in Indonesia a lot. They commented that the people in Yogyakarta were very kind and helpful. Also, experiencing Indonesian culture was interesting and the natural environment was beautiful.

From the evaluation from our faculty, they are greatly interested in further accepting foreign students. This opportunity would allow us to improve our English, and also trying to communicate with people from other countries that have a different language and culture. We hope that in the future, SEP continues to grow and be an interest to all pharmacy students.

Chrisilia CahyaniStudent Exchange Officer

BEMF USD, Indonesia


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SEPinBEMF-USDSanata Dharma University

Welcome party, with the committee

Borobudur Temple,Central Java

Visiting industry of traditional medicine

Farewell party, with the committee

SEP inBEM KEMAFAR

UNPADIndonesia

Universitas Padjadjaran (Unpad) had successfully hosted Student Exchange Program (SEP) 2012, with SEP divided into two terms to smoothen the research time since Indonesia had “Eid Mubarak Day”.

The first term was held 1st-22th July and saw the arrival of two incoming students from Poland, Ms. Anna Wzgarda and Ms. Aleksandra Rodzik. The main focus of their research was herbal medicines and the student’s extracted components of herbal plants to be incorporated into antioxidant gels and creams.

The second term was held 2nd-26th September 2012 with Ms. Marta Rios from Spain and Ms. Julia Lukassowits from Germany being involved with medicinal chemistry as their main research focus. During the second term we arranged “SEP Corner” where the incoming and outgoing students shared experience of SEP and their univerisity studies to pharmacy students of UNPAD, which was very helpful for our four outgoing students, who were visiting Egypt, Portugal, Turkey, and South Korea.

During both terms, the students were accompanied and helped daily by our internal SEP team that was led by Ms. Rina Nur Azizah as the Chief. Our internal SEP team not only connected the students with their lecturers, but also organized for social events such as weekend events and International Night since we realized that the students needed time off from laboratory activity on weekdays but to also visit amazing places and to experience the different culture Bandung has to offer. International Night helped the students to mingle with our organisation members in family spirit and friendly conversations.


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conversations. The students shared the traditional foods and dances of Indonesia and of their home countries, and played games, thus growing our friendship.

Overall, SEP has strengthened the relationship between Indonesian and international students and enabled us to share information and knowledge regarding the development of the global pharmaceutical industry, broadened our mind’s and encouraged us to always aim for improving ourselves as pharmacists.

Dinar AzzahraStudent Exchange Officer

BEM KEMAFAR UNPAD, Indonesia

ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL OFFICE (APRO)International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF)

IPSF Secretariat :P.O BOX 842002508 AE Den HaagThe Netherlandswww.ipsf.org | apro.ipsf.org

7th Newsletter, September 2012Created by: Exaudi Ebennezer, IPSF APRO ICCOPublication Subcommittee: Alexander Stefan Edberg Andreas Indah Saraswati

Proofread by Christina Cho, IPSF APRO Secretary

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APRO Newsletter, Issue 7