The agreement was signed on April 9 by Marian Witkowski, president of the District Pharmacy Council, Adam Kunda, chairman of the Polish Pharmacy Students’ Association Warsaw Branch, and Aleksander Kuźmicz, chairman of the Student Government of the Faculty of Pharmacy. Also present at the signing was Jan Wójkowski of the Student Government of the Faculty of Pharmacy, who was co-responsible for creating the agreement with the District Pharmacy Chamber.
What is the agreement with the District Pharmacy Chamber in Warsaw
- This is a historic event, because never before and on such a large scale has there been recorded close cooperation between pharmacy students and the chamber - comments Aleksander Kuźmicz.
Under the agreement, the parties will, among other things, organize health promotion campaigns and health picnics, as well as scientific and training events, as well as jointly supervise, review and evaluate student internships. But not only that.
- Thanks to the agreement, students will be able to actively participate in the work of committees within the District Medical Chamber, such as the Pharmaceutical Care Committee, the Science Committee, and the Communications Committee - says Aleksander Kuźmicz.
All this will ensure that pharmacy students will have a real impact on how the pharmacy community in Poland will look and function.
Inter-university cooperation of self-governments of the faculties of pharmacy
The Student Government of the Faculty of Pharmacy MUW has also undertaken other activities for the development of pharmacy. On its initiative, the Agreement of the United Self-Governments of the Faculties of Pharmacy (PZSWF) was established. The foundation for its establishment was a survey called "Nationwide Assessment of Pharmacy Students’ Education," conducted in October 2022, which was initiated by our self-government.
More than 1,500 students from all over Poland participated in the survey, pointing out changes that should be made to make pharmacy studies more interesting and competitive, while the education itself is adapted to the dynamically changing pharmacy profession.
The agreement is currently formed by local governments from the largest public medical universities in Poland: Medical University of Gdansk, Medical University of Lublin, Medical University of Lodz, Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University, Collegium Medicum of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Bydgoszcz, Piastów Śląski Medical University in Wroclaw and our university. But their number will grow.
- Together, we plan to point out necessary changes in the profession, such as an increased emphasis on training in pharmaceutical care including, among other things, anxiety reviews, preventive immunizations, or changing the form of professional practice after the fifth year of study to paid practice. And to develop guidelines that will make our profession more attractive and create new career paths - Aleksander Kuźmicz enumerates.
The students also want to incorporate other ideas, including those resulting from the survey.
- In 2023 "The National Assessment of Pharmacy Students’ Education" has attracted the interest of the Ministry of Health, which has pledged to implement most of the changes - Aleksander adds - We hope to do so in the near future.