The traditional white coat ceremony was held at the University of Otago on Saturday 22nd February. The ceremony welcomed 131 new students into the Pharmacy School. This year the students received inspirational wishes in the pocket of their new white coats, written from Otago Pharmacy graduates.
Please enjoy some of the photographs taken at the ceremony by Alan Dove!
Our annual pharmacy camp was held from Tuesday 11th February to Thursday 13th February at the Waiora Scout Camp. We welcomed 60 new second years and had 35 third- and fourth-year pharmacy students as camp helpers.
The new students were greeted on the lawn of the Otago Museum on Tuesday afternoon by our executive team and helpers. Upon boarding the bus, the students were divided into six coloured teams and had their first chance to meet their new teammates whom they would soon get to know a lot better through games, team activities, and challenges. Once the students arrived at the campgrounds, they dug into their first meal which was prepped and ready by some of our wonderful helpers. After lunch, the eager P2’s dove into their teams and participated in several ice breaker games and team-building exercises.
First challenge: Balloon Game!
The 6 teams were to participate in a varying number of challenges and activities ranging between sports to acting, and intellect. Our revue representative, Eve Bartholomew came up with 6 skit topics that were picked out of a hat by a member of each team which was later to be practiced and showcased. The first team challenge popped off with the balloon game, followed by an egg toss competition, and finally a quiz night after tea! We were excited to see the students were quickly forming new friendships.
The next morning greeted us with another stunner of a day which was the perfect weather for SPORTS DAY! The afternoon consisted of the 6 teams facing each other off in a few sports games to win the most points. There was Volleyball, Touch Rugby, and Cricket, tiebreakers were settled with relay sprints. We also tested each teams’ strength; Tug of War was the obvious game of choice. After lunch, the campers were re-energized and enthusiastic to carry on with the competition, next on the agenda was skit practicing.
Everyone gathered in the hall and the night had just begun, each team performed their acts ranging from raps battles, to singing, and impeccable acting which showed us that the P2s had some real talent. The hall was filled with laughter and applauds, and everyone had done an outstanding job the judges had a hard time making a unanimous decision. The night was a hit, which we all celebrated with a pizza night!
Challenge Winners: Purple Team!
We finished the night off with a disco party including a DJ and late-night snacks, all the teams came together, danced and sang the night away.
Huge credit to Isabella Mcloughlin and the executive team for organizing such a successful camp!
The NZAPS-O annual general meeting was held on the 21st September 2019, where we announced our new executive team for 2020.
Riley McEvoy and Carlie Arnold were the recipients of the NZAPS-O Appreciation Award for their continual support and involvement in helping out with NZAPSO and the executive members throughout the years.
Congratulations are in order to our new executive team!
NZAPS-O 2020 Executive :
President: Isabella McLoughlin
Secretary: Miqi Ou Yang
Treasurer: Jessie Lam
Education: Sophie Tran
ISPF Contact Person: Jared Davidson
Student Exchange Officer/Welfare: Lisa Hammersley
Sports: McKinley Vollebregt
Social: Nico Ritmeester
Marketing: Josiah McDougall
Revue: Eve Bartholomew
President – Isabella McLoughlin Secretary – Miqi Ou Yang Treasurer – Jessie Lam Contact Person – Jared Davidson Student Exchange Officer/Welfare – Lisa Hammersley Education – Sophie Tran Sports – McKinley Vollebregt Social – Nico Ritmeester Marketing – Josiah Mcdougall Revue – Eve Bartholomew
On Saturday the 6th of April, the Annual Pharmacy Flat Crawl was held in North Dunedin. Our theme this year was Safari. From safari rangers to pink panthers there was something for everyone. We started the day on Leith St, with a great view of all the incoming pharmacy students. Throughout the afternoon, we moved through 3 flats generously provided by our members.
The day consisted of friendly games, a costume competition and a BBQ provided by NZAPS-O for the hungry hoards. Best dressed for the day was awarded to Aleesha Bhana who crafted a home made elephant costume.
The event was sponsored by Scrumpy. They ensured that our members had a beverage in hand the entire event. A huge thanks goes to Scrumpy for helping up with our annual Flat Crawl!
It was a great day, enjoyed by many, with friendships and memories being made between all year groups.
On the 30th of April, 37 Pharmacy students participated in Relay For Life 2019 held at the University of Otago clock tower.
We walked and ran over a span of 12 hours to celebrate with cancer survivors, remember loved ones we have lost to cancer and come together to fight back! We raised a total of $4927.97, managing to come second overall out of all the teams in Dunedin. This is the most we have ever fundraised as a Pharmacy School. Our own Pharmacy Student, Jordan Macdonald (P4), shaved his head for a cure and to commemorate his own personal story. Jordan fundraised the most money overall in Dunedin, raising $2609.43! One of the other highlights of the night was the candle-light ceremony in which we celebrated survivors and remembered loved ones. The whole event had vibrant energy, fun activities to participate in, a complimentary cooked breakfast and a strong sense of community support.
A speech was given by a cancer survivor, who shared his story and highlighted the importance of getting symptoms checked out if you or anyone close to you are concerned, before complications arise and to better outcomes. Overall it was an amazing event to remember; a massive thank-you goes out to everyone who got involved and did something for a great cause.
This year the annual pharmacy camp was held from Monday the 11th to Wednesday the 13th of February. We had 60 second years and 40 third and fourth year students come along to help organise the events and lead the teams.
The students arrived excited and eager to meet each other at the bus bay outside of the Otago Museum on Monday morning. They were split into 6 coloured teams chattered with their new team mates on the bus to Waiora Scout Camp. Upon arrival, the teams participated in icebreaker activities and games, such as a balloon and egg game to get to know each other. It was even hot enough for a dip in the water hole in the afternoon! After dinner, the night was finished with a disco including a DJ and late night snacks. It was great to see friendships forming amongst the new P2s.
On Tuesday morning, we awoke to a sunny morning and teams split off to work on their skits which were pulled out of a hat by Glenn Wallace, our Revue representative. The morning was followed by a competitive but fun afternoon on the sports field. Teams versed each other in touch rugby, volleyball, cricket and tug of war for points. Skits were presented after our BBQ night and were a big hit for everyone. The teams did an amazing job on the skit performances, one of the best that the older students have seen in years. The night was full of laughs. The skits were followed by another dance party with a DJ. By this point it was obvious that many friendships had been formed throughout camp and that everyone was enjoying themselves.
Congratulations to Yellow Team for winning with the most points and an amazing performance in the final tie breaker!
A massive thank you to the 2019 exec and all the helpers at camp, it was a blast!
Last week was the annual NZAPS-O Pharmacy awareness week – 24th-28th September.
We stepped up our game this year with jam packed week of activities as shown below:
Cuddle fix was coordinated by our marketing representative Emma Gray with the support from North Otago SPCA.
Three beautiful doggos came along for cuddles.
Tuesday we had the pharmacy quiz night. Associate Professor Joel Tyndall was our MC for the night. The turn out was fantastic and we had some awesome prizes to give away thanks to Larson’s Pharmacy, Tokyo Express, Rob Roy Dairy and Go Healthy.
Patient Counselling event on Wednesday was highly competitive this year with a high standard of students entering. Congratulations to the winner of the day Kayla Waters!
We had ten pharmacy students donate blood this day also, saving 30 lives!
Thursday we gave back to our NZAPS-O members by offering free goodie bags. These contained a range of small keepsakes such as a bottle opener, stress ball, cell phone popsockets, a notepad and confectionery.
President Laura Pidcock and SEO/Welfare Rep Nadine King offered free blood glucose and blood pressure testing outside of Centre City Pharmacy Dunedin on Friday. They had 50 people take part in this – it was a great success.
The instagram frame competition also increased a lot of exposure for pharmacists. We randomly chose three winners to get a prize.
Thanks to everyone involved who made this week possible! Special thanks to the 2018 Executive, Te Puna Kaitaka and the Pharmacy Awareness week committee members for all their hard work.
On Saturday 15th September we had our annual Go Healthy Pharmacy Ball. The theme this year was Casino Royale, and it was held at the Savoy.
Everyone arrived full of energy down the red carpet, claimed their welcome drink and enjoyed the live singer with much excitement until the DJ came on.
Everyone danced the night away and enjoyed the delicious nibbles! A big thank you to our sponsor Go Healthy.
The following awards were announced:
Best Dancer – Ben Mwangi
Biggest Balls up – Jesse Jordan
Bachelorette – Anneliese Cooper
Bachelor – Joey Chan
King and Queen – Stephanie Murphy and Aaron Walker
On Friday evening we had our NZAPS-O annual general meeting. Congratulations to our new executive team for 2019! We wish you all the best.
President: Rebecca Angus
Secretary: Emma Gray
Treasurer: Ella Mountstevens
Education: Judy Park
IPSF Contact Person: Callum Porter
Student Exchange Officer/Welfare: Daniel Lim
Social: Bella Mcloughlin
Sport: Tasia Sissing
Marketing: Ollie Sibanda
Revue: Glenn Wallace
Congratulations is also in order to the recipients of the NZAPS-O award: Devon Crooks and Prashikha Chand.
We truly appreciate the huge time and contribution these girls have given to NZAPS-O over the last few years.
The 2019 Executive from back left: Glenn Wallace, Callum Porter, Bex Angus, Tasia Sissing, Bella Mcloughlan, Daniel Lim
Front: Emma Gray, Ollie Sibanda, Judy Park
Prashikha Chand – One of the winners of the NZAPS-O appreciation award. Photographed with Polo Nguyen.
This month some of our P4s have been busy completing a first aid course. Each year NZAPS-O organises sessions through Red Cross for our members. This year 42 students took up the opportunity.
Although we had to give up a whole Saturday (or Sunday), at least the first aid smartphone app preparation modules meant an extra half day wasn’t required!
I hope everyone that attended learned something, and feels as though they would be able to act when necessary. Those that attended are now trained in the “DRSABC”, giving CPR, helping a choking person, dealing with a bleed, and so much more.
I hope we never have to use these skills but I’m glad we will be able to act when necessary.
We are required to hold a current first aid certificate (check PCNZ website for standards
required) when applying for registration as a pharmacist at the end of intern year. It’s a
good idea to get it out of the way before the busy intern year begins, is something extra to put on your CV, and it’s fun to complete it with pharmacy peers!
Keep an eye out for details in your final year.
Shout-out to Red Cross for providing courses at a discounted rate for our students.
– Jemma Fielding, Education Representative
The 2019 Executive from back left: Glenn Wallace, Callum Porter, Bex Angus, Tasia Sissing, Bella Mcloughlan, Daniel Lim
Prashikha Chand – One of the winners of the NZAPS-O appreciation award. Photographed with Polo Nguyen.
Three Generations of Marketing Representative
Three generations of social representatives.
2018/2019 Executive together
New Zealand Association of Pharmacy Students Otago 