43

................................................................................. .................................................................................

communication skills and learning techniques based on dialogue, respect for patient autonomy, and mutual agreement [2].

The FIP YPG currently has two projects relating to education. However, as YPG supports young practitioners, the majority of their members are interns or registered pharmacists.

The YPG s first project, which has already been run at pilot stage, is the YPG Barometer . Its aim is to investigate the link between young pharmacists job satisfaction, motivation to practice and pre- and post-graduation education. The objective is to provide data to improve pharmacy education and practice so that pharmacists can have greater job satisfaction. By identifying the factors that affect the motivation of young pharmacists to practice, the YPG is providing valuable data for FIP to promote change in the profession. In this way, young pharmacists are shaping the future of the profession. The YPG Barometer is the first component in identifying job satisfaction issues, and possibly helping to gain inclusion for these subjects within established educational programmes. The initial phase is a questionnaire, which assesses the demographics of the young pharmacist population (current practice, length of career, school of pharmacy), then evaluates young pharmacists perceptions regarding their education and their job. Factors affecting job satisfaction and motivation to practice will also be identified as well as a component of the questionnaire focusing on continuing professional development (CPD). This project will be rolled out further after the FIP World Congress, Dublin 2013, in September.

The second project is the Leadership Project and will focus on providing additional leadership skills to young practitioners. It has been in response to requests from students and young pharmacists who feel that their initial education programmes do not provide the adequate skills needed to practice pharmacy from a managerial role. Elements included will be management skills (including team, time and project management skills) and communication skills.

6.2 Strategic Priorities

The IPSF aims to develop more educational activities. It was decided that all strategic decisions would be made in response to students feedback. To achieve this, it has launched two surveys inquiring about the educational needs of students. Several project proposals were submitted to the General Assembly and the students decided which were more appealing to them. Pharmacy Education Newsletter has provided a platform for students to write and communicate their experiences, ideas and research findings. The IPSF has been involved in organising national educational events, by providing our international expertise in the field, suggesting themes, and a network of contacts. Along with decentralising educational events from annual events, the IPSF has also

further developed existing events and created new ones focused on education. The Young Researchers Forum was created at the World Congress and aims to provide a sharing space for students to expose their views on education, science and practice.

The IPSF conferences are also events in which students are encouraged to present innovative ideas through informal talks, lectures and workshops. Most importantly, the Pharmacy Education Extracurricular Training was implemented with the objective of providing students with training in topics that are not usually tackled at university. The quality of the IPSF events is certainly an important issue and the IPSF extends invitations to world-renowned speakers to provide high calibre talks and advice to students. The IPSF is keen to collaborate with other professional organisations and universities to increase the quality of events.

The YPG is currently focused on identifying elements missing from the initial education received by recently graduated pharmacists. Primarily this has been found to be day-to-day skills for practice, which relate to human relations: customer service, staff management, and communication and conflict resolution. Once these shortfalls have been identified from a wider range of young practitioners, the YPG will then shift focus onto implementing more programmes directed at those missing elements. The YPG will also assess whether having these additional skills will result in greater workplace satisfaction. This is designed as a long term project, and can be run at regular intervals to ensure that the changing needs of young pharmacists can be met. As the study will identify issues resulting from educational programmes, the YPG will also then focus on providing feedback and information to the boards and selected sections, with regard to the identified areas of deficit and need. It is hoped this information would then provide a basis for including these components within the pharmacy courses provided.

6.3 Future Steps

This year, the IPSF has started collaboration with UNESCO, in order to set up joint events. UNESCO experts can bring a new dimension to the IPSF education initiative. The IPSF works to develop further collaboration with FIP Education Initiative (FIPEd). The IPSF will implement an e-group where students, during the year can talk to each other and share their ideas regarding education as students getting to know each other better will help to reduce barriers between different educational systems, the IPSF plan to further develop their advocacy system in order to know more clearly what students are looking to gain from the IPSF, and what the IPSF can offer them outside of university.

At the beginning of the year the IPSF, in collaboration with FIPEd Development Team, launched the FIPEd - IPSF Student