IPSF Activities
International Student Exchange
Mobile Pharmacy in Northern Uganda Project (MPNUP)
International Student Exchange
The international student exchange program has two goals. The larger goal is to get students into the United States (and Europe) from other countries. The other goal is to send U.S. students abroad. To go abroad, a U.S. student would need to either set up an exchange with a foreign student, or sign up through an application process.
The exchanges are basically swapping a student from another country with you. The foreign exchange student must have everything that is required of a host site, which is explained below. They are set up on a personal basis, (you must make the contact with the foreign exchange student) and these must also be run through the student exchange officer.
Getting foreign students here is the more important goal because the U.S. is highly regarded in terms of pharmaceutical education. Also the number of students the U.S. can send abroad is related to the number that we accept through the general application. So the more host sites the better!
In either an exchange or through general application, we need host sites to increase the number of foreign students that visit the U.S. Host sites require a free room and transportation to UA, as well as a job/rotation with a mentor for one month (flexible, the month doesn't have to be together). Free food is also a plus, but not necessary. Once you have established a host site, contact the student exchange officer for the United States, which this year is our very own Lisa Munson (see IPSF Officers).
For more infomation please contact the student exchange officer (see IPSF Officers.)
Smoking cessation is extremely important in both the U.S. and worldwide. Our program focuses on local schools with students around the 4th to 7th grade level. The program shows the detrimental aspects of smoking as well as the benefits of not smoking. Most of the information for these presentations were found at http://kickbuttsday.org/
For questions about how to get involved, contact a tobacco awareness coordinator (see IPSF Officers.)
- Community-Based Projects; listing available from
- ATIN at 1-800-432-2772
- ASH at 1-800-556-6222
- Training in Tobacco Cessation for Health Professionals (520) 318-7253
- Arizona Smokers' Helpline (ASH)
- www.ashline1.org
- 1-800-556-6222
- Clinical Practice Guideline available
- Online at www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/
By phone:
AHRQ 1-800-358-9295
CDC 1-800-CDC-1311
NCI 1-800-4-CANCER
Our program at the UA is a part of IPSF's global effort to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS. With over 1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States and even more around the world, understanding the disease and learning how to address patient needs is becoming increasingly important. We host our key event, AIDS Awareness Week, during the fall semester. This is a week-long lunch speaker series aimed at educating students in the health professions about the many issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. For more information, please contact our AIDS Awareness Week coordinators (see IPSF Officers).
The Mobile Pharmacy in Northern Uganda Project (MPNUP) is a new humanitarian project that is a joint effort between IPSF and Respond-ReNUH (Respond and Restore Northern Uganda’s Healthcare, a non-profit organization). A civil war in Uganda from 1986 to 2006 displaced almost 2 million people into refugee camps in Northern Uganda. Although the war is now over, people in these camps remain homeless with nowhere to go and no access to healthcare. The MPNUP project’s aim is to deliver medical help by providing medicines and basic medical care to people living in refugee camps around Gulu in Northern Uganda. These refugee camps span an area 25 kilometers or 15.5 miles in diameter. A team consisting of a doctor, a driver, a coordinator, and three pharmacy students will visit refugee camps three times a week. Students may volunteer and apply to travel to Uganda and participate in the project first hand or to help in fundraising efforts to support the project.
PARS: PARS, or Pan-American Regional Symposium, is a meeting within the American region of countries. This includes all North, Central and South American countries, although all countries need to formally become members before being recognized as voting/active members. These meetings were started in 2002 as an effort to help communication within the Americas, with the U.S. being the first host site, then Mexico, and in 2004, Panama.
International Scientific Symposium: This is a worldwide meeting used to exchange scientific ideas through abstracts or poster presentations.
World Congress: This is the major international meeting of the year and gathers hundreds of student pharmacists from more than 40 countries to discuss global issues in pharmacy. The meeting is comprised of meetings, workshops, symposiums, and social events. The next and 56th IPSF World Congress will be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia from Aug. 2 to Aug. 12, 2010.
As a part of the APhA-ASP organization, IPSF is recognized at the APhA annual meeting. There is an information booth regarding IPSF and the IPSF Chapter of the Year (an award that the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy is known for) is awarded during the awards ceremony.