GAU FACULTY OF PHARMACY STUDENTS' SUCCESS IN THE PATIENT INFORMATION COMPETITION

1. This year, for the first time, our 2nd-year students, Sıla Torun and Berkcan Elitaş, participated in the Patient Information Competition held in Ankara, not as contestants, but as participants in the Patient Information Competition. Contestants can be 4th or 5th-year students. As part of the event, our students had the opportunity to attend presentations by the President of the Turkish Pharmacists Association, officials from the Ankara Chamber of Pharmacists, presidents of various chambers of pharmacists, the General Secretary of the Turkish American Pharmacists Association, and representatives from the pharmaceutical industry.

The presentations covered topics such as the current number of employed and unemployed pharmacists, chamber activities related to assistant pharmacists and internship processes, potential professional problems that may arise from the increasing number of pharmacists graduating in the coming years, and proposed solutions to these problems. Our students also had the opportunity to listen to assessments from industry professionals, including Doğan Taşkent, owner of Atabay Pharmaceuticals.

As part of the event, our students also participated in a capsule filling workshop organized by Bayfar; they had the opportunity to observe the capsule preparation processes, critical points to consider, and practical production stages firsthand.

In addition, they had the opportunity to develop their professional networks by meeting with industry representatives working in the marketing departments of various pharmaceutical companies.

2. Our students, Mahinur Mislina Yağlı, Sude Akbörk, and Sedef Rencuzoğulları participated in the Farmafikir 9 innovation and idea competition, organized with the theme "Innovative Approaches to the Future of Pharmacy," with their project "PetPharma" and achieved significant success, qualifying for the semi-finals.

Out of a total of 97 projects evaluated in the competition, only 13 projects were selected as semi-finalists. The fact that our students' "PetPharma" project reached the semi-finals is considered a significant achievement for our university. This success demonstrates our students' competencies in innovative thinking, project development, and entrepreneurship, as well as contributing to our faculty's innovation-focused educational approach.

3. Our students, Ceren Berfin Özcan and Meriç Erel, participated in the C-HOPE International Congress on Holistic Development & Positive Education with their graduation thesis entitled “Findings on Cardiovascular Drug Utilization Patterns”.

Our students were accompanied by their graduation thesis advisor, Asst. Prof. Dr. Deniz Uğur and our university and faculty were represented at this international meeting held in the Parliament of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The opportunity for our students to present their scientific work on an international platform significantly contributed to their academic development, research experience, and scientific communication skills.