The 67th BPSA Annual Conference was held in Liverpool from the 11th-18th April 2009. The event was a tremendous success, with delegates attending from Manchester to Strathclyde and Portsmouth to Malaysia. The Annual Conference provided an opportunity for students to discuss many important topics such as calls to increase summer placements in the pharmaceutical industry and preregistration places in hospitals. Debates on the advertising of contraceptives and the age at which alcohol should be sold also took place during the week. The week also included elections for next year’s BPSA Executive and the announcement of the winners of the BPSA’s Reckitt Benckiser Student of the Year Competition and the McNeil Responding to Symptoms Competition.

The week started with a true Liverpudlian theme of the Beatles, with delegates dressing up in retro outfits to boogie to the hits of the local band. The evening was kindly sponsored by the Specials’ Laboratory.

Sunday saw the return of the popular preregistration clinic, with Elizabeth Horncastle from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and focus groups with Ioana Stupariu. The Scouse theme continued through to Sunday evening when delegates were able to explore the city in our first ever BPSA Photo Scavenger Hunt.

Monday dawned, and with it came a hint of the International. In the morning, the European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association’s Vice President of Education delivered a presentation on what EPSA is and does. President of the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) presented the work of IPSF in the afternoon and organised an entertaining team-building activity that put everyone’s skills to the test and finished with a fashion show!

To continue the International during the evening, delegates celebrated the maritime city with sea-faring food overlooking the docks along with a folk-rock band and traditional dancing. The event was kindly sponsored by the National Pharmacy Association and the Alliance Healthcare.

On Tuesday the conference was pleased to host three Presidents for our Question and Answer Panel. President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, Steve Churton, joined our own President, James Davies, and the President of the IPSF, John Nguyen. They faced a grilling by delegates on issues such as the inclusion of prescribing in the Pharmacy course.

Tuesday evening started with the Reckitt Benckiser Student of the Year Award drinks reception at Atlantic Tower. The quality of the finalists was very high and the winner, Aliya Turk from De Montfort University, won an all-expenses paid trip to Bali for the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation Annual Congress. The runner-up, Matthew Crum from the University of Sunderland, received financial support to attend a European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association event. The rest of the evening was held at the Hard Days’ Night Hotel with delegates enjoying fine food and fantastic music, alongside Beatles’ memorabilia. The BPSA would like to thank the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and Reckitt Benckiser for making this night possible.

Peter Noyce, from the University of Manchester, gave a presentation on the new Student Code of Conduct and Fitness to Practice Procedures on Wednesday morning. The Pharmacist’s Defence Association ran a workshop in the afternoon that involved a mock Statutory Committee Hearing. The day got delegates thinking seriously about their professionalism. In the evening the PDA kindly sponsored the curry night in a traditional Indian restaurant with delegates enjoying great food in relaxing music from our very own violinist.


Thursday was host to the ever-popular BPSA Day with a series of talks in the morning from the Secure Environment Pharmacist’s Group; Special’s Laboratory; Alliance Boots; and Prof. David Mottram, from Liverpool John Moores University, presenting on the issue of Drug’s in Sport. The finals of the McNeil Responding to Symptoms Competition were held throughout the day with the prizes being presented at the Medical Exhibition.

The Medical Exhibition gave delegates the chance to meet many of our supporters and other companies, and even take part in a fun competition at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Museum stand. The Medical Exhibition was the perfect opportunity for delegates to get face-to-face with people they may never have met otherwise, and gain priceless advice at the same time. Following the Medical Exhibition we held our famous Charity Auction, which raised over £2000 for the Imagine Appeal, the official charity of Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. The evening drew to a close in the oldest Chinese Restaurant in Liverpool, Harbour City. As with all our sponsors, the BPSA would like to thank the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at LJMU for making this evening possible.

The week ended in spectacular fashion with the 67th Annual Ball, sponsored by Alliance Boots, held at the Raddison SAS Hotel. The venue was fantastic and it was definitely a night to remember with delegates taking away many cherished memories of the week.

 

The BPSA’s flagship event, our 66th Annual Conference was held this year in Kingston-Upon-Thames from 24th – 30th March. It was a fantastic event with delegates taking part in some great educational activities as well as some awesome social events! We’ve had a record number of motions passed this year to become BPSA policy for the next 3 years as well as the election of next year’s executive and the announcement of the winners for the BPSA’s Reckitt Benckiser Student of the Year Competition and the McNeil Responding to Symptoms Competition.

This years Annual Conference was and amazing event which saw angels, devils and even camels! The week started with Welcome Night, an “Angels and Devils” theme sponsored by Specials’ Laboratory. There were come ice breaker games and a pool tournament to get the conference going.

Reckitt Benckiser Student of the Year Award Winner Elizabeth Aubrey of Manchester University

McNeil Responding to Symptoms Competition Winner, Martin Rayner of Kingston University

Saturday saw the elections for next year’s executive, the results of which can be downloaded here.
Cick here to view the Election Results for the BPSA Executive 2008-09

There are still two positions vacant- Eastern Area Coordinator and Northern Area Coordinator.

If you are interested in either of these positions, there is an opportunity at the changeover of the Executives at the start of July for the incoming Executive to co-opt people to fill these positions. If you would like to apply for either position, you can find the regulations for members of the executive, a guidance document for those considering applying to the Executive- “So you want to be on the BPSA Executive” and the BPSA 66th Annual Conference booklet below.

It would be advisable to read these documents in the sections which correspond to these roles as well as contacting the person currently doing these roles (can be done via the website) before expressing your interest by contacting the current president, Heena Bhakta. You will be asked to submit a short manifesto to the incoming executive so that you can be considered for co-option onto the executive at the start of July. If you have any further questions about this process then again get in contact with the current president, Heena.

Click here to view the 66th Annual Conference Booklet [671 KB]

Click here to view the 'So you want to be on the BPSA Executive' document [77 KB]

Honorary Life Membership of the Association was also awarded to Heena Bhakta and Scott Dalgliesh for their outstanding contributions to the BPSA.

Photographs of this unforgettable event can be found in the members only section of the BPSA website, so make sure you log into the members only section using the 'Enter Here' button today!