The Dean of the Pharmacy Program, Dr. Ma. Eva C. San Juan, and Pharmacy professor, Mr. Sheldon Silva, presented their research papers in the recently concluded 24th Federation of Asian Pharmaceutical Associations (FAPA) Congress in Bali, Indonesia, September 13 – 16.
Dr. San Juan presented her paper entitled “AN EVALUATION ON THE UNIVERSITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION BS PHARMACY MAJOR IN CLINICAL PHARMACY CURRICULUM: IMPACT ON PHARMACY PRACTICE” while Prof. Silva conveyed his study entitled “A COMMUNITY PHARMACY MODEL FOR AN AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY: A PROPOSED EDUCATIONAL SET-UP FOR INTERNSHIP”.
As a co-founder of the five-year Clinical Pharmacy curriculum in the country which the University of the Immaculate Conception pioneered, Dr. San Juan is a fitting resource person on the subject matter. To date, the UIC’s five-year Clinical Pharmacy Major curriculum continues to enjoy its popularity among local and foreign students who choose UIC primarily because of its consistent high ratings in the United States Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE). The UIC Clinical Pharmacy curriculum is equivalent to the US Pharmacy Curriculum Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences, as deemed by the US Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE). Thus, graduates of UIC Clinical Pharmacy curriculum have the US equivalent of BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Meanwhile, Professor Silva’s research birthed from his experience as a Clinical Pharmacy instructor of the Community Pharmacy Internship Program in UIC.
This year’s FAPA theme is “Culture and Medicine: Bringing Traditional Medicine to Modern Life”. The three-day congress featured 35 keynote speakers of international reputation, 16 symposia, over 250 oral presentations, and 345 poster presentations from all over the Asian region.
Happening only biennially, the FAPA Congress is one of the most prestigious gathering of pharmacists not only for sharing research results and broadening pharmaceutical knowledge thru symposia, but also for social programs, which this year, included farewell dinner, golf tournament, and Indonesian Island tours.