Follow our blogs feed 
Hello guest, welcome to PJ online
gateway to the world of pharmacy and medicines
The Pharmacy Show
By Sara Valente
4 Oct 2011
The Pharmacy Show is a gathering of pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies exhibiting their products and is held at Birmingham's NEC. It is a place for industry experts to showcase their latest technologies and for new companies to promote their business plans. The pharmacy show also gives us the opportunity to find freebies, make contacts and hear from award-winning pharmacists for their excellent services. The day is filled with talks and demonstrations on current issues that are relevant for all medical care providers.
This blog seems a little premature since the show is in fact, next weekend. It was only until I tried to register for the pharmacy show that I found out that students were not allowed to attend. Well why not?!
It is true that the exhibitions are not directed at students and would be of more interest to current pharmacists but the atmosphere could provide information and inspiration to budding pharmacists.
I have visited 'The Clothes Show' at the NEC before and it is safe to say that I am not a fashion designer nor was it a prerequisite to gain access! Hopefully in the future we could see students joining in with the pharmacy show perhaps with BPSA stands and booths that provided information for students. It would be the perfect place to discover pharmacies that offer the pre-reg and ask questions. Don't leave us out just because we are not yet fit to practise! Although I would like to hear news about the pharmacy show if anyone has attended.
Greater Access for Students Needed
Hi Sara,
It was very interesting to read your blog and you do have some very valid points.
It was indeed the case that students used to be allowed to attend the Pharmacy Show but this has changed in recent years. The first year this happened the BPSA ran a scheme where students wrote a motivational statement in order to receive a place at the Pharmacy Show. Uptake was very low and this hasn’t been continued since but we believe the organisers of the Pharmacy Show still do something similar in-house. There are many useful and informative talks that take place during the show so if you are interested in the educational content of the event you can e-mail the event organisers to request a place. Please see this link for more information: Pharmacy Show Registration Page
We understand that students want to attend the Pharmacy Show for a number of reasons, be this networking or the educational content. Although we cannot change the situation in time for this year’s event we will work with the organisers of the Pharmacy Show to try and get student access to next year’s show. This is an opportunity not only for students to network and make links but also for employers to sell themselves as future career options and to express to students what they want from potential employees. In the long run this is a benefit to employers as it will result in an increased number of applications from students that are more driven to work for that company. We have first-hand experience of this from organisations who get involved in BPSA events, especially the Medical Exhibition at our Annual Conference.
Members of the BPSA Executive will be attending the event again this year to represent students, promote BPSA policy (which is created by our members at our Annual Conference) and explain to the exhibitors how important it is to get students involved in their organisation and also events like the Pharmacy Show. On the Sunday we will be running our Preregistration Conference in association with the PDA, which aims to help preregistration pharmacists get the most out of their year. We would like to have a stand at the show but the costs of this are too high due to the Show being a commercial venture.
Overall, it is a shame that a vital part of the pharmacy profession is being excluded from such a fantastic event. We will be doing our very best to represent students at the Pharmacy Show this year and trying to change this issue ready for next year’s event.
Ryan Hamilton (BPSA President) and Emily Hemsworth (BPSA Public Relations Officer)
Thanks for the reply
Hi,
Thanks for the reply, it's good to hear that the BPSA is supporting this idea! It would be great to see students getting more involved with their future profession although I do see how the pharmacy show is a little more difficult to co-ordinate.