CPA-MPS Pharmacy Scientific Conference

Although the pics taken with Prof. Koda-Kimble are in Dr. G's and Mr. B's digital cameras, I decided to blog about the event anyway coz I believe in 'strike while the iron is hot'. I would like to share my experience (and also juicy gossips *wink*) with you all when the memories is still fresh, and not displaced away by piles of undone work like studying for coming class test, management project, radiopharmacy project...

Here is a brief intro on the event.

Date: 1-5 Aug 2007 (I was sponsored for 5th Aug only)

Event: Commonweath Pharmaceutical Association-Malaysia Pharmaceutical Society Pharmacy Scientific Conference (held bi-annually)

Theme: Quality Care For Better Health

Venue: Park Royal Hotel (The food is quite good for the typical 'pay-for-environment-not-for-food event. If our uni wishes to cut cost in annual ball next year, they should consider this hotel as the ambience is quite good; at the least, it beats Legend flat)

Today's Agenda:

Plenary: Beyond Clinical Pharmacy-Realising Our Full Potentials by Prof. Dr. M.A. Koda- Kimble
Plenary: Concordance and Quality Care by Prof. David Dickinson

Symposium: Pharmacy Education

Symposium: Community Pharmacy

Post-Conference Workshop: Medication Review

My conference pass. ^_^ I was grateful for those who voted me to attend this conference, thanks!

I reached there at 7.45 a.m. for registration since the first plenary would be held at 8.30 a.m. There was not much crowd; you can see the various drug companies opening their booths to give our free goodies. If you look closely, the visitor in front of the girl in pink is our senior, Mag. She was the only other girl besides me among students of 'my uni' who attended the conference.

They even served breakfast though it wasn't stated in the agenda. There were coffee, tea, breads and an assortment of cookies. Though I already had my breakfast, I tried one of the cookies. It was nice albeit slightly sweet.

Inside Orchid Ballroom where the conference was held. There were complemetary mineral water and papers for each of us and a bowl of mentos at each row.

Notice the girl in white at the left of the pic. Click to enlarge the pic if you want. She is a pharmacist working in Perth. Any guesses on who she is? Clue: our uni's lecturer's daughter (Take a wild guess before you scroll down.DON'T PEEP!!) She is none other than..... *drum rolls*

Prof Yeoh's daughter. Like mother, like daughter, right?

There you go. A sneak preview of Prof. Koda-Kimble. I thought I was the one who looked forward to meeting her. But guess what? She is so popular; (relatively) many people went up and spoke to her, requesting for a shot with her. Even our beloved Ms. Wong was there just for Prof. KK. Quoting Ms. Wong 'I am here for KK. I won't be joining you all later. I am like a student now. *laughing*'

Prof. KK and Dr. I. Dr. I did his postgraduate in Uni of California at San Francisco, where Prof. KK is the dean of the school of Pharmacy. Her grandparent(s) is/are Japanese, that explains her Asian look.

The goodies from the conference- a shoulder bag by Roche, notebooks, post-it notes, pens. The papers are hand-outs on the plenaries and clinical papers of products advertised by Roche. Notice the red stuff there? It is actually chocolate from Ghana. During the closing ceremony, representatives of Ghana approached the floor and offered us a taste of Ghana. (The next CPA conference will be held in Ghana in 2009. By then I will have graduated; my uni won't be sponsoring me there!! *I wanna go to the beach resort where the conference will be held*)

You must be wondering why I have pics in the lecturers' cameras. That is because the group pics taken with KK was blur. The the WORST thing that could happen was, the digi cam ran out of battery. (I borrowed it from my mum's friend coz my younger sis took our digi cam to her trip today. Usually I will charge my cam fully.) Seeing my reaction, Dr. I offered to borrow Dr. G's digital camera to snap pic for me. Humbled in her presence, I could only say 'Can I have a pic with you?' when I met face-to-face with KK. I couldn't even bring myself to ask her to sign my notebook which I brought along.lol. Her book, Applied Therapeutics, is TOO EXPENSIVE for me to invest in la!! And even if I had bought it, I can't possible carry that super heavy book to the conference right?

Forgot to mention. Congrats to our lecturers, Dr. I and Mr. N who won the prizes for poster presentation. Well done to Dr. G for his effort in presenting poster too (I haven't looked at their posters as they were presented in previous days). This surely will boost 'our uni's reputation =). If you are reading this b4 monday, you know this news b4 PPP. The lecturers were beaming with smiles as they were confident that PPP will be pleased too.

The lecturers attended today were Mr. B, Dr.I, Ms Wong, Dr. G., Dr. M., Mr. AM, Mr. Adi, Dr. P. They were all sponsored by our uni. I found out that the conference participation fee was RM350 per day. Prof. Yeoh is a committee of MPS so she got to stay in Park Royal throughout these few days.

I don't feel like reviewing the plenaries and symposium (we had to choose one symposium to attend as both were held at the same time) here. If u are interested, I can show you the hand-outs. You all will also find out more as we talk in between lectures and during lunch time. All in all, I find the exposure and the experience a fruitful one. ^_^