For some attendees, the event, held in Birmingham on Saturday 8 July, was the first face-to-face event of this type they had attended since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pharmacy students, trainees, and early career pharmacists were invited to the event, which was designed to support them, as their learning and development were most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
To fulfil its commitment to supporting members throughout their careers, the PDA set up this event to ensure that these members finally had an opportunity to meet face-to-face to form networks and learn from each other, as well as offering sessions on non-clinical, but important skills.
PDA Head of Education, Kate Kensington said, “At the PDA, we know there are many skills that pharmacists need to progress in their careers, which ensure that patients receive the best standard of care that they can. Interpersonal skills, including communication skills, building relationships, and listening skills, are all part of the professional standards for pharmacists and yet we see a limited amount of help for pharmacists in their training and the early part of their careers in developing these skills.”
In the morning of the event, attendees were joined by external speaker Juliette Yardley. Juliette is a behaviour change specialist, with an academic background in psychology and over 25 years of experience within the files of applied positive psychology. She worked with members to prepare them for change and to understand how they can build resilience.
The afternoon included a session on networking and one on building relationships. Both sessions looked at the skills needed to develop and maintain professional relationships as a pharmacist and gave participants practical advice on how to implement changes to improve in these areas.
Member feedback
The event was well-received by participants, and many provided feedback on their experience.
Shabana Haji, a PDA member who attended the event said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the event. One of the things I’ve learnt is in life and in pharmacy, change is inevitable. So, as well as other things, I am very grateful to have learnt how we can embrace change in a positive way and that begins with growth mindset.”
Angel Chiu, who also went to the event said, “It was a great experience to network with so many like-minded peers and explore our future in the pharmacy career.”
Another attendee, Lauryn Eghabor said, “Thanks for delivering such an informative and life-changing programme on Saturday!”
A fourth member, who requested to remain anonymous, said it was an “informative and fun day with interactive and engaging sessions which helped me improve my resilience and networking skills while providing a networking opportunity to meet like-minded colleagues.”
The PDA will use this feedback when developing future events and reminds members that all current and future events can be found on the PDA website here.
A number of attendees also expressed an interest in getting further involved with the PDA, which the PDA encourages. There are many ways for members to do so, such as by joining a PDA Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Network or becoming a PDA Rep.
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If you have not yet joined the PDA, we encourage you to join today and ask your colleagues to do the same.
Membership is FREE to pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists, and for the first three months of being newly qualified.
Read about our key member benefits here.