The 14th National Student Business Plan Competition is now underway – testing the flair and entrepreneurship of students preparing for a career in community pharmacy.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia's 2020 competition was launched during the recent NAPSA Congress in Newcastle.
Team captain of the 2019 winning entry, Jordan Anderson from the University of Auckland, launched the competition by detailing his experience to his fellow students.
"The competition provides insight into the business operations of pharmacy, which is not otherwise provided in most pharmacy degrees," he said.
"This allows us to utilise our creative and innovative thought which is a nice change from the mainstay pharmacological content.
"The competition is also a good exercise to better understand your passion within pharmacy and the profession, which has significantly helped me discover my own personal career interests.
"Everyone is capable of finding a similar success from this competition which is why I recommend it to all pharmacy students."
Guild National Councillor Catherine Bronger addressed the students about the future of community pharmacy and community pharmacy careers.
"The future of community pharmacy is an exciting place with infinite opportunities," she said.
"Take these opportunities and make the most of them; take part in the business plan competition, find yourself a mentor, build your networks, listen to podcasts and immerse yourself in the profession."
The competition aims to encourage student teams to use their ideas, talents and energy to create innovative new business ideas in community pharmacy through the development of competitive business plans.
The competition, which commenced in 2006, encourages innovation amongst pharmacy students who will be the future owners of Australian and New Zealand community pharmacies.
In 2020 the focus on innovation will continue to be greater than ever to ensure that tomorrow's owners look for highly differentiated services that they can provide to the Australian and New Zealand markets.
The National Student Business Plan Competition is open to all students studying pharmacy in Australia and New Zealand and will provide $15,000 in cash prizes to the finalists (top three teams) in addition to registration, flights and accommodation to attend the Guild's 2020 Pharmacy Connect conference.
The competition timelines are:
The competition is an initiative of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and is sponsored by EBOS (major sponsor) and foundation sponsors Gold Cross Products and Services and the Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL).
For more details go to the competition website.
