A director at Alliance Healthcare has been awarded honorary life membership of the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA).
Mike Smith, who is the UK non-executive director at the healthcare company, joked he must be “the oldest student in the UK” after receiving the prestigious accolade.
Related Article: Updated NHS App to help patients manage prescriptions
Smith, who is a community pharmacist in Devon and a fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, was chosen for his “decades of support” and passion for independent pharmacy.
Speaking at the 74th BPSA annual conference, he said: “These young people, who are the future of our profession, have a very clear idea of current affairs affecting our industry – from pay cuts to new services and regulatory changes.
“The pharmaceutical world is exhilarating and challenging, but can also be hugely gratifying.
“I look forward to continuing to support, encourage and inspire the BPSA’s talented students, who wish to embark upon a career in pharmacy.”
Related Article: Pharmacy First proves popular with public but supply issues cause concern
Former BPSA president, Noel Wicks, said: “Mike Smith has given the BPSA decades of support in the form of an unwavering belief that pharmacy students will shape the pharmacy landscape of tomorrow.
“This has been backed up by actions that demonstrate this belief. Mike has not only been inspiring me for the past 15 years, but has motivated many hundreds, if not thousands of other young pharmacists.”
“His ability to gather support from other organizations and companies to help fund things like annual and area conferences, talks and competitions, is extremely commendable.”
Related Article: Starmer touts pharmacy-led weight loss jab drive in 10-year plan speech
The BPSA conference is an annual event where pharmacy students, pre-registration trainees and past BPSA members meet for debates and workshops.
Have your say
Please add your comment in the box below. You can include links, but HTML is not permitted. Please note that comments are not moderated before publication and the views expressed are those of the user and do not reflect the views of The Pharmacist. Remember that submission of comments is governed by our Terms and Conditions. You can also read our full guidelines on article comments here – but please be aware that you are legally liable for any libellous or offensive comments that you make. If you have a complaint about a comment or are concerned that a comment breaches our terms and conditions, please use the ‘Report this comment’ function to alert our web team.