IPSF — BPSA

International Pharmaceutical Students' Federation

Students Today, Pharmacists Tomorrow

Established in London in 1949, the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) is the leading international advocacy organisation for pharmacy and pharmaceutical science students and recent graduates. Representing over 500,000 pharmacy students and recent graduates in over 100 countries worldwide, IPSF aims to promote improved public health and pharmacy education through the provision of information, education, networking, and a range of publications and professional activities. The British Pharmaceutical Students' Association is a Full Member Organisation of IPSF representing pharmacy students in Great Britain.

As a member of the BPSA you are automatically a member of IPSF and are invited to participate in the numerous programmes, projects, conferences, exchanges and other opportunities that IPSF can provide.

Campaigns and Projects

IPSF facilitates several projects within their three focus areas, which are Pharmacy Education, Professional Development, and Public Health. Through these projects, the aim is to contribute to the development of our members' skills and abilities and assist them in reaching individuals within their communities

IPSF offers resources and support to run multiple campaigns that complement the pharmacist’s role in public health, all of which are greatly aided by the World Health Organisation (WHO), with whom IPSF holds Official Relations status.

Here are some of the projects and campaigns that IPSF run:

Medicine Awareness Campaign - AMR, rational use of medicines, drug abuse, drug disposal
Healthy Living and Diabetes Campaign - World Diabetes Day, November 14th
HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign - December 1st
Tobacco Alert Campaign
Tuberculosis Awareness Campaign
Anti-Counterfeit Drug Campaign
Vampire Cup - International blood donation competition among all the IPSF member associations - traditionally June 14th
World Health Assembly - the decision-making body of the Word Health Organisation - May.

You can get involved on social media or by running public health campaigns at your university! contact ipsfofficer@bpsa.co.uk for more information!

Professional Development Projects

Leaders in Training (LIT): A training program to help pharmacy students develop soft skills, improving their leadership potential. Participants are usually divided into small groups, with trainer(s) delivering an immersive training for 3 to 4 days.
Patient Counselling Event (PCE): Aims to demonstrate the importance of pharmacy counselling skills, increase awareness of pharmacists as public educators, and to encourage and promote the development of the pharmacy profession.
Pharmacy Profession Awareness Campaign (PPAC): The lack of awareness of the pharmacy profession is prevalent throughout society. Although important to patient health care, the pharmacy profession has not been able to communicate effectively to the public about the role, scope and importance of the profession. The PPAC aims to improve the population’s awareness about the Pharmacy Profession.
Trainers Development Camp (TDC): The TDC aims to develop a quality and sustainable training program for pharmaceutical students and recent graduates worldwide in order to give them a background with experience-based learning and equip them with a set of skills needed for conducting training.

These activities are held by IPSF during the Official Events, in particular at the World Congress and every student can apply to participate:

Clinical Skills Event (CSE): An interactive, team-based analysis of clinical scenarios for hospital/health-system pharmacists. It provides pharmacy students the opportunity to enhance their skills.
Compounding Event (CE): The Compounding Event aims to test knowledge and skills in the field of Pharmaceutical Technology. The project focuses on helping pharmacy students to use their compounding knowledge to prepare drugs.

Student exchange programme (SEP)

The Student Exchange Programme is the IPSF's largest project. It offers professional pharmacy internships. Every year more than 1000 students participate in over 90 countries.

The Student Exchange Programme enables cultural exchange between pharmacy students around the world by sharing knowledge and experiences.

The length is usually 2 weeks to 1 month or more, with a minimum of 40 working hours per exchange, and possible host sites include:

Community pharmacy
Hospital pharmacy
Pharmaceutical Industry
Research at university

The SEP is run by the BPSA's SEO and more information can be found on our Student Exchange Programme page or you can contact our Student Exchange Officer (seo@bpsa.co.uk)

World Congress

The World Congress is the main event of the Federation's calendar and usually lasts for 10 days. They have been held yearly since 1961. The first conference was held in London in 1949 and the first Congress was held in 1957 in Mosney, Ireland.

During the week there are multiple workshops and symposia of a scientific and educational nature. The main activity of the World Congress is the General Assembly, where the elections of the Executive Committee take place, and any motions raised from member organisations, such as the BPSA, are debated and voted on.

The next World Congress will be in Nairobi Kenya 7th to the 15th August 2025

There will be a leaders in training (LiT) session from the 4th to 7th of August, then a post congress Tour (PCT) from the 15th to the 18th August.

Registration phases have now been released!

Follow the World Congress IPSF page on Instagram for more updates

Regional Symposia

The five Regional Offices organise a Regional Symposium yearly, and they usually last for 5 days. They are the main event for all the Associations in the region. The BPSA’s region is EuRO but in total there are 5 regions:

African Regional Office - African Pharmaceutical Symposium (AfPS)
Asia Pacific Regional Office - Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium (APPS)
Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office - Eastern Mediterranean Pharmaceutical Symposium (EMPS)
European Regional Office - European Regional Symposium (EuRS)

Pan American Regional Office - Pan American Regional Symposium (PARS)

As a BPSA member you may attend any of these symposia even if they are not in your region.

This year, the BPSA is happy to announce that the 5th EuRS will be held in Newcastle, UK, from 21st–25th July, with an additional post symposia tour in Edinburgh from the 25th to 27th.

Registration Phases have now been released!

Follow The IPSF EuRS Instagram for more updates

World Health Assembly

The IPSF holds official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) and as a result is granted the opportunity to attend officer WHO events such as the WHO Executive Board Meeting and the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. Every year, IPSF sends representatives to these official events, where delegates attend various high-level meetings, panels and work to promote IPSF relations with other NGOs and stakeholders.

Publications

The IPSF produces and distributes an array of publications during the year to showcase member Associations’ activities and provide an outlook on past and current projects. Publications provide member Associations with publishing opportunities to encourage involvement in their education and profession!