Pharmacy students are a key part of the PDA and while at the conference, PDA representatives exhibited at MedEx, spoke with many inspiring students and delivered a number of workshops that proved very popular. This year the annual PDA-sponsored Curry Night featured a pub quiz with PDA officials, including John Murphy, the General Secretary of the PDA Union.
All pharmacy students and pre-regs, including BPSA members, have the opportunity to join the PDA for FREE. Membership not only provides a range of direct benefits for those individuals, but because we include student members in our charitable partnership with Pharmacist Support, each student member also generates a £1 donation, every year they remain in membership. This remains entirely FREE for the student.
Throughout the year, PDA sponsor a variety of developmental and social events to support BPSA. This includes our popular “Finishing First” and “Aiming High” courses which help pre-reg trainees with helpful revision and mini-mock papers for the upcoming registration assessment.
PDA’s wider student activity also includes delivery of a programme of interactive workshops across the country. These sessions are provided free to universities and are designed to help students understand and manage risk, adopt professional behaviour and develop pharmacy best practice. Each year the PDA also sponsor student awards in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
It is always a pleasure to support the BPSA and we are very proud of our joint achievements. We look forward to continuing to build upon our successes in the future and continuing to support the future of our profession.