Vice President of the World Pharmacy Council, Professor Trent Twomey announced earlier today (24 March) at the Opening Plenary of APP2022 that the early career pharmacist nominations are now open for the $50,000 Australia Health Minister Young Pharmacist Global Exchange Scholarship – an initiative of the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA).
Supported by the Australasian College of Pharmacy (ACP) and the World Pharmacy Council, this scholarship is available to early career pharmacists, in their first five years of general registration, who are currently working in a community pharmacy.
The $50,000 scholarship will support one talented early-career pharmacist to work in community pharmacy for a year in the United Kingdom and share their experiences at a future World Pharmacy Council conference.
The scholarship will help to facilitate the two-way exchange of skills and knowledge at a practical level of the various tasks performed by community pharmacists working to their full scope of practice.
ACP President, Michelle Bou-Samra, says the scholarship is one of the many ways the College is engaging the next generation of pharmacy leaders.
Ms Bou-Samra says that the scholarship allows immersion in “another country’s education and methods of working”, which “builds transferable skills like adaptability, confidence, ethical sensitivity and decision-making”.
“Working abroad in the United Kingdom provides the opportunity to the successful candidate to expand their professional contacts, build collaborative projects and other opportunities,” says Ms Bou-Samra.
Professor Twomey says that learning from pharmacists in other OECD countries “will also help the scholarship recipient build on their technical, operational and interpersonal skills and also bring some newfound knowledge and experience back to their Australian colleagues”.
“This will benefit Australia, the United Kingdom host country and the industry overall,” says Professor Twomey.
The winner will also receive return flights, accommodation and full registration to attend the Pharmacy Connect Conference in Sydney on 1-3 September 2022, where the 2022 Australia Health Minister Young Pharmacist Global Exchange scholar will be announced.
Early career pharmacists can self-nominate or be nominated by a third party, such as an employer, pharmacy team member or industry representative at acp.edu.au/education/scholarships/young-pharmacist-global-exchange.
More information about the scholarship, the nomination and submission forms are available at acp.edu.au/education/scholarships/young-pharmacist-global-exchange.
