For the first time at an EAHP Congress, the 18th Congress of the EAHP in Paris will see a dedicated session for pharmacy students with the title, “Student to Hospital Pharmacist – Breaking down the barriers” taking place on Wednesday 13th March 2013, 11:15am to 1:00pm in Room 251 of the Palais des Congres Conference centre.

The main aim of this session is to discuss the career pathway that students can take across Europe to become hospital pharmacists.

This session has been designed by David Preece, current EPSA Intern in the EAHP offices in Brussels.

“As a practicing hospital pharmacist and EPSA Secretary General I understand both the passion to become a hospital pharmacist but also the perceived barriers to do so. I have a passion for hospital pharmacy and would like to encourage pharmacy students to work in this sector. I hope that this session can be a useful starting point in their career. “

Speakers that have agreed to be part of this session have extensive experience in France, USA, Austria and the UK. 

They all are interested in sharing their knowledge to the students and pharmacists of tomorrow.

	Marianne Ivey will be giving a different perspective from outside Europe. She will be talking about pharmacy residents in the USA and why they are particularly well-suited to address the new responsibilities they are undertaking.
	Gunar Stemer, member of the EAHP Scientific Committee, will be describing the role of hospital pharmacists in Austria. This may be particularly useful for the newest member of the European Association of Pharmaceutical Students (EPSA), AFÖP - Akademischer Fachverein Österreichischer Pharmazeutinnen (AFOP) from Austria. Gunar will be talking about his career which has involved publishing work on clinical pharmacy, focusing on renal pharmacy.
	Stephlin Tomlin, consultant pharmacist in children’s medicine, will be sharing his experience about becoming a consultant pharmacist in such a specialized area. He works frequently with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society especially in relation to childrens' medicines issues.  In this session he will discuss his career to date and role as a consultant pharmacist.
	André Rieutored, member of the EAHP Scientific Commitee since 2008 will be sharing his experiences as a chief pharmacist in a French teaching hospital. He has a passion for education and trys to promote and implement  lifelong learning, self directed learning, and distance learning, focusing on clinical pharmacy. In this session he will describe "the French way" and also his experiences within EAHP

Members of the French Association representing Hospital Pharmacy residents will also be present describing how they support the activities of hospital pharmacists in France. They will look forward to changes ahead in 2013 in France and will hopefully inform, educate and inspire!

More details about this session can be found here.