Annual Report - FIP

Having participated in this session, I learned the potential gains of experiential learning and the value
it could add to the pharmacy education. It was also very interesting to listen to Dr Marriot again and
to find out the university courses available to educate trainers of trainee/preceptor education. Mr Mike
Rouse's presentation showed the weight that the US accreditation body has given to experiential learning.
This session proved to me that we have a long way to go both in terms of preceptors and incorporation
of experiential learning into the curriculum. It would be my obligation to suggest incorporation of
experiential learning as a part of the curriculum when the time comes for a curriculum revision and
to identify proper preceptor for educating students. I would acknowledge the FIP foundation for
Education and Research for giving me an opportunity to contribute for curriculum revision.
The session on "Evidence based practice and complementary medicine: teaching and learning by
example" helped me to achieve a major part of my second objective. The two speakers, Ms Kristie
Galbraith and Mr Greg Duncan did a wonderful job of showing how we can answer a clinical question
after critical appraisal of literature. The speakers were very clear on the tools and strategies for searching
the literature and it was interesting to know that a slightly outdated Cochrane review can give an
unsatisfactory answer to the clinical question. The session was useful and it would definitely help me
in future for evidence based selection of medicine and be an evidence based pharmacy practitioner.
The session on "Medication reviews - beyond medication counseling towards service delivery" was an
eye opener to see the services which can be extended at the community pharmacy level. The presentation
by Ms Lea Tuomainen was interesting and it was good to get to know that there are university courses
conducted purely on how to conduct medication reviews for community pharmacists.
To my disappointment, the interest group of the pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics did
not meet. However I managed to meet Professor Alan Lyles, Professor Marina Altagracia Martinez and
Professor Albert I. Wertheimer who are also resourced persons in the area of pharmacoeconomics and
discussed some of my research questions with them. It was nice of Professor Martinez for offering to
help me in the future in my pharmacoeconomic studies and I am now in contact with her.
The poster sessions also were very rewarding. I presented a poster and acknowledged FIP foundation
for Education and Research.
I attended the first timer's reception and got exposed to different sections of the FIP foundation and
now I plan to be a member of Academic Pharmacy and Pharmacy Information sections. I also came
to know the activities and benefits of the International Pharmaceutical Students' Federation (IPSF).
Now I am in the process of trying to make our students members of the IPSF.
The congress also allowed me to get to know pharmacists from South East Asia Region and now I can
have better collaboration with them.
The welcome reception at the Great Peoples Hall was an event for a life time. I attended receptions by
the president and by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association. Further we managed to visit the Great
Wall, Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square and it was a memorable experience.
All in all, attending the 67th FIP congress was a life time experience to me. I gained knowledge,
exposure and I met resourced person from all around the world.
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