There is no shortage of interest from Australian pharmacy students in a national conference at Charles Sturt University (CSU) for the next generation of pharmacists.

 

In a first for regional Australia, the National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association (NAPSA) Congress 2012 will be held at CSU in Wagga Wagga from Sunday 22 January to Saturday 28 January 2012.

 

Members of the University’s student club, Pharmers' Society have been planning the event since March last year, with a successful bid to host the Congress launched by the Society in the middle of 2010.

 

“We have 200 confirmed delegates attending the NAPSA Congress 2012, including about 30 students from universities in Western Australia and another 12 from north Queensland,” said Congress Chair and final year pharmacy student at CSU, Mr Sean Dodd.

 

“We expect the student number to increase to 250 with our second round offer of Congress tickets. The tickets are highly sought after as the NAPSA Congress is the biggest event on the calendar for pharmacy students in Australia.” 

 

Also lining up are the sponsors. The 10-member organising committee has raised approximately $80 000 in sponsorship. The budget will rise to $190 000 when ticket sales are finalised.

 

“Our nine sponsors have been very supportive,” said Congress Secretary Ms Pina O’Hare, a third-year pharmacy student at CSU. “They range from Charles Sturt University, to generic drug company Apotex, Johnson & Johnson Pacific, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.”

 

In what is expected to be one of his first formal duties, the new Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU Professor Andrew Vann will open the Congress at 9am on Monday 22 January.

 

The topics of the Congress’ seven education sessions have been selected to fit with the event’s theme, Broadening Horizons.

Mr Dodd said, “We will explore aspects of the pharmacy sector which are not covered in many pharmacy courses and which fit well with rural and regional Australia. They include Indigenous health, pharmacy prescribing and veterinary pharmacy.

 

“I think the fact this is the first NAPSA Congress to be held outside metropolitan Australia has got everyone excited and students studying in the capital cities are seeing the event as a chance to come and learn more about our chosen profession in rural and remote areas.”

 

A highlight of the Congress’s organised entertainment will be a Gala Ball for approximately 350 people at one of the nine sponsors, the Capital Nightclub, on Friday 28 January and Australia Day Races at the Murrumbidgee Turf Club on Thursday 26 January.

 

Four members of the organising committee will graduate in December ahead of the Congress and will start their pre-registration year in Melbourne, Wagga Wagga and Wollongong in 2012.

 

“We have been fortunate to have secured work with employers who have been accommodating with the time needed to organise and host NAPSA Congress 2012,” said Mr Dodd.

 

The four-year Bachelor of Pharmacy is offered through the School of Biomedical Sciences at CSU in Orange and Wagga Wagga